Gang Wars
by animedragongirl
Summary: SasoDei, KisaIta An international school is alive with warring factions, and two groups duke it out. Akatsuki needs members soon, but Sasori is dead set against a certain blonde teen. Chapter twelve: Plot development!
1. A Problem and a Solution

**Disclaimer:** Once again. If it were mine, Tobi would be dead. Or he would have stayed dead when he got crushed by a boulder, if he is indeed Kakashi's long-lost best friend Obito Uchiha.

**Warning:** Yaoi in the future and the present. KisaIta, but mainly SasoDei.

* * *

1. A Problem and a Solution 

One thing you can count on, Sasori thought glumly as he made his way to his class on Western Literature, was that international schools will _always_ have some obscure class that only a certain faction of the student population will understand.

This, of course, was a reference to the amount of gaijin attending the Tokyo Culture School. Only half of the attending student body was actually Japanese; the rest were usually from the various families working for their governments in other countries as diplomats. One of the reasons that Sasori was going to a class on Western Literature, as about half of the world read and studied it. A Tokyo native, he found the reading material's concepts and values easy to grasp, but hard to accept. Japan had a completely different literature genre, anyway.

Not that it mattered, since he was a puppeteer, a master at the Omake Theatre style. He didn't care about gaijin concepts. He had nothing to do with them.

"Konichiwa, Sasori!" someone called from across the hall. A large, tall, and rather sharkish student made his way over to him, leading a much shorter, much more typical Japanese teen behind him.

The two were, of course, the only people Sasori would actually consider "friends"- in a loose sense of the word. Hoshigaki Kisame and his best friend-turned-boyfriend Uchiha Itachi were the only two students who cared to get to know him in the first place, and the only ones who had known him long enough to want to care.

"Konichiwa," Sasori replied. "Are you ready for the most incomprehensible class they offer here?"

The three of them grimaced. Kisame and Itachi were also native Japanese, Kisame of modern doesn't-matter-anymore descent with a Russian diplomat for a long-gone father and Itachi of the we-were-well-known, bow-down-to-us clannish pure-blood we-are-great type. At least, he probably would have been, if his family hadn't died from the terrorist gassing of the subways a few years back.

"It's hell," Itachi said drily as he and the blue-haired teen joined step with the red head. "I can understand the concepts, values, and all those things they call "idioms," but it doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone kill themselves if their lovers went and got themselves stabbed?"

Sasori shrugged. "I don't know, and I hardly care," he answered uninterestedly. "I don't have anyone anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Point taken," Kisame muttered.

"That reminds me," Sasori added calmly. "We need to call a meeting- some of the stupider genin were talking about a 'secret group called Oto.' Orochimaru's getting a bit nastier, and it looks like he'll go for a power struggle."

"No way," Kisame said, impressed at the teacher's boldness. "He really wants this thing to come around, doesn't he?"

Itachi nodded. "I'll contact Hidan and Kakuzu during mathematics," he said calmly.

"Zetsu's in my history class," Kisame volunteered.

"I'll tell Rei-sama and Takikko-chan then," Sasori concluded as they reached the classroom door. They walked through just as the bell rang.

"Take your seats please," the professor said drily. "We have a lot to cover today." He waited till they were seated, and then asked the class, "What did you learn last night?"

* * *

The meeting convened after school in Rei-sama's classroom, as usual. It was the safest (so far) and most practical for the group's purposes.

Sasori was the second to last one there, due to his science teacher congratulating him on receiving a one hundred and seventy-six percent score on the most recent test. He had honestly tried to sneak out of the classroom, but she had called for him to stay after class two minutes before the bell rang.

He walked through the door pulling on the group's trademark- a black cloak with white-lined red clouds. "Urusai Rei-sama," he said quietly as the teacher who had founded the group looked at him. "I was caught up."

"Late, pretty-boy!" Hidan jeered. He picked up things like that from the American Embassy kids. Sasori ignored him and made for the table Kisame was sitting on, where the shark-like teen had moved over to make room for him.

"Takikko-chan isn't here yet either," Itachi pointed out coldly. It was a given that he did not much care for the Kusa chunnin. Hidan flapped a hand, dismissing the comment.

The member in question, sole female person in the group, came in. "Gomen nasai, sensei," Mizukame Takikko (1) said. She settled herself next to the other Kusa nin, Zetsu.

Rei-sama acknowledged her with a slight nod. He turned to the group and the smaller individual conversations ceased. "It has come to the attention of one of our members something curious. Sasori?"

The red-headed teen coolly recited what he knew. "During training today, I overheard some of the Suna genin discussing something to do with a 'secret group called Oto.' They went on to mention that it wasn't as exclusive as our group, Akatsuki, and that the leader promised power to followers."

"That's stupid," Zetsu said flatly. The golden-eyed boy looked disgusted. "Why is Orochimaru trying something now? It doesn't make sense."

"Unless he wants to get rid of us," Takikko pointed out, flicking her blue hair over her shoulder and out of her way.

"It's not possible though," Hidan argued. "We're too strong. You should know- you should _all_ know- we're the best. The elite. The ones guaranteed to graduate with the highest honors and actually be begged for body guarding positions."

"Not necessarily," Kisame shot back. "I'm in you science class, and your scores aren't much to talk about."

Hidan glared at him. "That has nothing to do with anything," he grouched.

"Skill isn't a guarantee of safety," Itachi said disgustedly as he found a way that they could be crushed. "He can take us all out simply by bearing down by sheer numbers if he has enough."

Silence fell as the others digested this grim fact.

"That _sucks,_" Kisame muttered finally, vocalizing what everyone else was thinking.

"Well," Rei-sama said thoughtfully. "Obviously we need a way to fight this new threat. I suggest getting some more members and going from there. I have researched a few students, and here are your assignments." The group waited expectantly.

"Zetsu, there is a Konoha genin of some promise. His name is Tobi. I want you to find him and talk to him about anything you can think of- gain his trust and bring him in if you think him worthy enough." He stopped and pulled a small booklet out that he handed to the Kusa nin. "These are his statistics in combat skills and studies, as well as background information. All you need to know is here."

He shuffled a few more papers around and procured three more booklets from under a stack of student reports. One he handed to Takikko.

"This is Masuda Yuri," he said. "Another girl, you'll be pleased to see. Not great at close quarters, but top of her class at genjutsu and some long-distance ninjutsu. She's from Ame, a second year chunnin like you. The book has more; read it carefully. I think she'll make a good addition."

He turned to Kisame and Itachi. "Another Konoha genin. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, an orphan probably half American. Incredibly brilliant despite the apparent lack of a brain. Slow on the uptake, he can be strangely creative in his tactics- I believe he beat his rival, your younger brother Itachi, by using an inventive trap that left the Uchiha hanging upside down by his ankles. He also has the nine-tail fox Kyuubi sealed in him. We need power like that.

"Sasori." The last booklet went to him. He opened it as Rei-sama began to talk. A picture showed a blonde-haired blue-eyed American looking teenager who stared dully out of the small frame.

"He's in Iwa. Just transferred here with his father- a major diplomat with a lot of influence. From America; more specifically, the state called California. He has a strange fighting style, and he took out the entire chunnin group using explosive clay. A quiet second year chunnin. Apparently, he's rather antisocial."

Sasori nodded, heart sinking slowly. He had a gaijin. That was just great. He didn't think they were bad, per say, but most were painfully ignorant.

"Alright, you know what to do," Rei-sama said. "Meeting over. I'm going home."

* * *

A/n- Whoo. And I'm going to bed.

Yes, another SasoDei fic. I just like them, they're a great couple. To the point, yes, another multichaptered fic. This idea has been banging at the back of my head for a while, so I'm finally writing it all down.

(1)- Mizukame Takikko is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a Mary Sue. She is merely a sort of other character. The only member not introduced in Akatsuki (besides the leader) is a blue haired person whom some people think is a girl. I just gave her a name, and possibly a personality.

Right now I'm playing off of the different schools in Japan. There are two types of schools there: traditional and international. Traditional are usually all Japanese, without any compensations for English speakers, whereas international are able to cope with a wider scope of nationality. I figured, let's have it at an international school, and we'll chuck Deidara in from the states. Huzzah.

Oh, and before I forget: "Gaijin" means foreigner. A lot of Japanese people hold a kind of contempt for foreigners- "stupid gaijin," "baka gaijin." They usually think you're a bit ignorant.

I'll explain the school system later, in another chapter… I'm too tired now.


	2. Gaijin

**Disclaimer:** No… (looks for copyright papers) Sigh. Still not mine. Though I keep searching on ebay.

**Warning:** KisaIta (not much in this chapter…), SasoDei, gaijin bashing… Swearing. That's about it.

This is most definitely the longest chapter I have ever written in my career of chapters.

Don't expect it too often :D

* * *

2. Gaijin

Sasori usually walked home. It was cheap (free, more like), efficient, and it gave him exercise. Which he didn't need, but got anyway. He was used to it.

"Home" was a rather large, by Japanese standards, apartment complex. Five rooms: His, his grandmother Chiyo's, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a room for laundry. Hardly glamorous when the largest room (the kitchen) was 15 x 10. It was also on the third floor.

He took of his shoes once inside and set them neatly by the door as he called, "Tadaima, Obaasan."

"Okaeri nasai, Sasori," his grandmother called back. "How was school?"

"One-hundred and seventy-six percent on the last science test," the red-head answered in a flat-toned voice, making his way to his room. "And Orochimaru is planning something. I'm going to my room to study for my assignment. Please call me for dinner."

His grandmother sighed as he walked past her. Gangs weren't something she wanted him to be involved in, but at the school he was going to, it was more of wishful thinking on her part. Gangs were a given in a school where they taught the shinobi ways.

Sasori heard her sigh as he left, and knew what she was thinking about. He didn't worry, though, as his skill was more than enough to keep himself protected… probably the only thing that kept his grandmother from pulling him out.

Dropping his schoolbag by the door, he pulled out the booklet of information Rei-sama had given him. He began to read.

Name: Taiga Deidara

Race: American born, father of Japanese descent

Age: 17.3 yrs.

Village: Iwa

Status: Second year chunnin

Academic: 99.7, Top of class

Athletic: 100.0, Top of class

Background:

Father works with American Embassy; Japanese descent made him an ideal diplomat. Has gained much respect from the Japanese Government. Was transferred two months ago for a three-year term, and brought his family along.

Before changing countries, he had perfect scores at one of Tokyo Cultural School's sister institutions in Los Angeles, California. He has adjusted admirably to the school system in Japan, and his strange fighting style is rather interesting; he can create multiple clay creatures including flight-capable birds that he appears to detonate when in position. An interesting tactic he has created and employed since coming here is an interesting use of Kage Bunshin and his clay, producing exploding clones. At this point, it can be assumed that he is an explosives expert, and we, Akatsuki, do not have one at this time. It is firmly suggested that he be brought into the group to work for us.

His personality is antisocial. He seems to want nothing more than to study or spar. Strangely enough, medical records drawn up on him show no allergies or illnesses, but he had been brought to various medical institutions for numerous injuries spanning broken wrists to third- and second-degree burns, amid the more mundane cuts and bruises. They do not appear to be a result of sparring. In any case, he does not try to make friends and seems to discourage any contact possible.

"Do not appear to be a result of sparring"… probably abuse, or maybe just plain bad luck, Sasori thought to himself. Discourages contact… antisocial and withdrawn, an introvert, or something else. Despite reflecting on this paradox for a few minutes, he could not resolve it.

He checked the teen's stats on the training grounds.

Average Hours per Day: 5

Registered Spar: 237 matches _to_ Iwa chunnin

Losses: 0 matches _to_ Iwa chunnin

Draws: 0 matches _to_ Iwa chunnin

Wins: 237 matches _to_ Iwa chunnin

Impressive. He hadn't lost a match yet. That explained his 100.0 percent score. Now… Academic Stats. Let's see if he's on par with our intellect level, Sasori thought with a grim sort of pleasure.

Art: 100.0 percent

History: 100.0 percent

Literature _and_ Western Literature: 99.6 percent

Mathematics: 100.0 percent

Science: 100.0 percent

Training: 100.0 percent

Hah! the red head thought triumphantly at the boy's Literature and Western Literature score, conveniently forgetting that most of the other members of Akatsuki had worse scores. In reality, only he and Itachi actually got a higher score than this kid Deidara. Everyone else was below a ninety-eight score.

This still didn't stop him from feeling incredibly important. Stupid gaijin, he thought with a sense of victory, you should go home.

* * *

Deidara walked into his homeroom feeling out of place, as usual. An American in a room of foreigners, from a country that didn't take kindly to his country to boot. (1)

A mouse in a room of cats, without a mouse hole to bolt to. Hmm… three guesses on what happens to it.

And right now, you could literally feel the hostility radiating from everyone as he stepped over the threshold. He supposed defeating all of the foreigners in the room from the country that didn't like his just didn't make his situation any better. Make that a cat which the mouse had dropped a hot iron on.

Not that he had a choice. His father only expected the best, and if you didn't make the best… well. Too bad for you, here's another bruise to add to your ever-growing collection.

Mutters punctuated his arrival. From his study of Japanese (that he had started as soon as he learned they were being transferred, though he spoke it at home in Los Angeles), he could understand what they were talking about most of the time. Sometimes the slang and pop references were incomprehensible, though.

"Stupid gaijin…"

"Bastard. He cheated."

"On you, maybe. He must have on Seiji-"

"Yeah! There's no way he could've beat Seiji in a fair fight!"

Deidara winced inwardly as he silently made his way to his desk, trying not to limp too much from when his father lost his temper last night. Seiji Takamura was the most challenging opponent he'd faced in the past few months, obviously the leader of his homeroom class. They didn't take kindly to a gaijin defeating all their best fighters without breaking a sweat, though they'd been polite enough in the beginning. Now he faced open hostility if he ever ran into any other Iwa chunnin. Genin, too. Jounin and ANBU were too aloft to care.

He managed the twenty minutes in homeroom before they were excused to go practice with the other chunnin on the Iwa training grounds, a huge building in their sector of the school campus. The whole campus was in a sort of circle, with a huge structure in the middle of the 30 square kilometer area for all the academic classes. The rest of the school grounds were divided into sectors for the various "villages" that split the Academy Students into separate groups, which formed the base for the villages.

There were five main villages (Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Iwa, Kumo) (2) and four lesser villages (Ame, Kusa, Taki, Yuki) (3). Each had a symbol on the headband that was part of the uniform used that displayed what village you fought for. Changing villages was commonplace, but you were hailed as a traitor from your original village, and the hazing that followed could be brutal. Few stayed after a year.

The uniform itself only changed as you gained rank. For example, Academy Students had absolutely nothing, as they were not part of any village. Genin had the headband, as proof they had graduated Academy, but hadn't attained chunnin level yet. Chunnin had a flak-jacket, and jounin had a souped-up version of the same jacket. ANBU walked around in light armor most of the day and masks with animal faces, since their curriculum was to basically go on suicide missions into other villages' sectors and try to steal specific things that were later reclaimed by the invaded village's ANBU- if they succeeded in stealing it in the first place.

* * *

Deidara managed to hide his limp, and spent most of the morning practicing katas. They were easy, allowed him to think, helped with his stance, and cleared up his chakra system. Most of the Iwa nin ignored him completely, though several still glared at him openly when they thought he wasn't looking. Thankfully, no one tried to get in his way, and by lunch he was hungry and ready for the academic part of the day.

To his surprise, as soon as he'd sat down, someone came over and stood at the other side of the table, just looking at him. He stared at the newcomer, a red-head with flat, brownish-red eyes, and asked, "Can I help you?"

"You are Taiga Deidara, correct?" The teen's speech was precise and slightly clipped. The blonde started to get irritated.

"Hai. And you are?..." he paused as he waited for the other to introduce himself.

"Aka Suna no Sasori." He sat down abruptly.

Deidara stared at him a few seconds longer, shrugged, and went back to eating. Shrimp and octopus sushi… at least the school made good food.

"You defeated Takamura Seiji, didn't you?"

Sasori, or whatever his name was, was really starting to annoy him with that tone of voice. Still, he stayed polite. "Hai."

The other teen was silent for a while.

"What do you know about the group named Akatsuki?"

The question came after five minutes of silence, so Deidara was somewhat surprised. He stopped eating and thought for a minute.

"Er… it's a highly selective group of shinobi and kunoichi, and you can't join unless offered. There are… uh… six male members and one female member. The leader of the group is Rei-sensei, a history teacher. Um… that's it."

The red-headed teen looked rather mollified.

"Would you be interested in joining the group if you could?"

Deidara started to suspect there was something more going on here than just a casual conversation. All the lessons from his previous school on interrogation were running through his head like crazy, and he suspected he was taking some sort of test. What of, he had no idea. He wasn't that interested, either.

"Yeah… it'd be interesting." And maybe his father would like it and leave him alone for at least one night.

Sasori looked for a second like Christmas had been cancelled. A blank face came up in time, though, for the next question.

"Will you join then?"

Deidara was so startled at the question he nearly yelped. "What?"

The red-haired teen gave a small sigh, a tiny gesture that indicated his carefully- not really- impatient dislike. "Our leader, Rei-sama, would like you to join. I am supposed to offer you the invitation. Will you join or not?"

The blonde bit his tongue. He did not like this guy at all. Saying that his leader would like him to join and not the group was a clear indicator that they, too, probably didn't like him. So, he ignored his common sense that started screaming at him.

"No," he said flatly in response, not bothering to hide the look of disgust on his face. He picked up his tray and left the boy behind, not knowing or caring what the other's response might have been. He left his tray at the counter deigned for them, and left the lunchroom with a grim elation running through him.

Damn Japanese, he thought through clenched teeth as he made his way to the main building. Just because I'm gaijin doesn't mean I'm stupid.

* * *

"That went well," someone said dryly. Sasori glanced up to see Itachi, Kisame, and some other blonde kid sitting down across from him in the spot previously occupied by Deidara.

"Kami, Sasori, what did you _do_?" Kisame asked disgustedly. "He looked like a nice kid, and you ran him off."

Sasori sniffed irritably. "He's a stupid gaijin. How should I know why he does what he does?"

"Gaijin or not," Itachi said, "it's pretty easy to piss someone off, no matter what nationality they are. Rei-sama isn't going to like this."

"You mean he was offered to join too?" the blonde kid asked curiously. "How many of us are you guys trying to get in?"

"It was four, before Sasori ran off one of our prime candidates," Kisame grumbled. "You, him, a guy called Tobi that's annoying as hell, and some girl."

The kid shook his head. "You mean Tobi? That idiot? He's useless. Even stupider than I am." He turned to Sasori. "Sorry, the name's Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?"

"Aka Suna no Sasori," the red-head said, with a sense of déjà vu. "Don't tell me you're gaijin as well."

"Nope," Naruto said cheerfully. "My dad was, though. Born and raised in Japan, thankyaverymuch."

"How would you know that if you're an orphan?" Itachi asked.

"Hey, I wasn't an orphan until I was four," Naruto said, waving a hand. "Dad died in some freak accident, and mom stayed alive until I was old enough to start noticing things."

"Oh."

"Anyways, Sasori. You need to go talk to Rei-sama. He wanted all of us to check up with him sometime during lunch on how our recruiting was going.

Sasori cursed in three different languages in his head. He did know quite a few Russian swear words that he'd picked up from Kisame. He did not want to go see Rei-sama at the moment. Nevertheless, he got up and muttered "See you," to the others, and left the lunchroom.

He reflected on the way the recruiting discussion had gone. He decided if he hadn't been so… well, mean, maybe the kid would've decided to stay. And what was with the whole "Yeah, it'd be cool," and then the "Hell no," bit? Gaijin were so contradicting. They made no sense whatsoever.

Glumly, he knocked on the door to Rei-sama's office.

"Come in, Sasori. How has your attempt at recruiting gone?" the teacher asked as he walked in.

"He declined," Sasori said flatly, not going into details.

"Really?" Rei-sama did not seem angry, merely thoughtful. "Do you know why?"

"No."

The teacher raised an eyebrow at this. Damn it, Sasori cursed furiously, I forgot he can tell when you're lying so easily!

"Are you sure?"

"…yes." He must have a death wish. Who knew? He didn't. He thought he'd been pretty happy with life.

Rei-sama seemed slightly disappointed in him as he regarded him steadily.

"Very well. You may go," the teacher said at last.

Sasori turned and walked out the door, alert for any signs of attack. He was pretty sure Rei-sama was pissed, and that usually brought an injury on whoever had caused it. But he managed to get out the door without receiving any bodily harm.

* * *

What Sasori didn't know was that Rei-sama was not angry with him, but angry at himself. He had completely forgotten Sasori's intense dislike of gaijin. Stupid! he scolded himself. And sloppy. Very sloppy. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

He _couldn't_.

To be completely honest, he had known the threat Orochimaru and his renegade village of Oto posed for Akatsuki long before Sasori had come upon the knowledge. And what he knew told him that they needed all the help they could get.

He had really hoped that Deidara would join, because the kid was talented. He had taken out Iwa's most promising candidate for the jounin exams in two minutes flat, and defeated the rest of the chunnin in less that that. Besides that, he was an explosives expert, of which Orochimaru had several. Less talented they may be, Akatsuki had no one to oppose them.

But instead of making sure that Deidara would join, he had assigned Sasori to recruit him.

And Sasori _hated_ gaijin. With a passion. He thought they were stupid (most were, sadly…), and to top it all off, the kid was American. Sasori's grandmother's brother and husband had been killed fighting the Americans in World War II, and she had hated them for that. She had passed on the hatred to her grandson, who lived with her after his parents were killed in a plane crash- and of course, it had to be on an American plane. It didn't matter that this happened sixty or so years after the war.

He _had_ to get that kid to join.

With that in mind, he got on his computer and tracked him down. Deidara's next class was science with Kishimoto Nitan as his professor. He quickly typed a message to the woman to send Deidara to his room as soon as the bell rang, and waited.

* * *

The bell clanged, signaling lunch as over. Deidara stood outside his science class, waiting for Kishimoto-sensei to open the door.

However, when the teacher saw him, she said, "Taiga, there you are. Rei-sensei would like to see you in room 131. He'll give you a pass back as soon as he's finished talking to you- it has something to do with your test scores, I think."

Deidara listened to this with a slowly sinking heart. That bastard Sasori told their leader I refused, and now he's going to kill me! he thought, panicking. I'm so screwed.

He bowed politely to the teacher. "Arigato, Kishimoto-sensei." He turned and walked down the hall- room 131 was two corridors over and three rooms to the left. As he walked, he tried desperately to get a hold on himself to keep himself from funning far, far away and never coming back. Two things stopped him: a) He was not in his home country, and as the son of a diplomat the Americans would think the Japanese had kidnapped and/or killed him, and war might ensue, and b) he had nowhere to run except for home, and with the sort of father he had that was not a very good idea.

Upon reaching the door to room 131, he nearly dropped and ran for it, but forced himself to open the door and walk in. Rei-sensei sat behind a desk, frowning at something on the computer placed there. He looked up when Deidara said tonelessly, "Gomen… did you wish to see me, Rei-sensei?"

"Ah. Taiga," the teacher said, waving a hand vaguely to a chair. "Please sit down."

In silence Deidara sat down in the chair, schoolbag sliding to the ground. One hand rested on the pouch of chakra-and-gunpowder-enriched clay he wore at all times.

Rei-sensei shuffled through a few papers on his desk, and abruptly asked, "Why did you refuse to join the group Akatsuki?"

The question surprised Deidara, and he almost let it show before clamping his blank mask in place. "Gomen nasai… I do not know what you are asking, sensei."

The man sighed, briefly closing his eyes as he sat back in his chair.

"You were offered a position in the group of talented students I lead, called Akatsuki. Why did you turn down my offer?" he asked in barely accented English.

Deidara couldn't hide the shock on his face this time. Belatedly, he remembered to answer the question.

"Er… gomen. I refused to join because it was obvious that Sasori-san did not want me to join, and in fact seemed to not even want to talk to me. He acted like just another Iwa nin, so I decided it was pointless," he replied grimly in Japanese.

"'Another Iwa nin?' What do you mean?"

Deidara shrugged. "Well, they're all pretty pissed I beat Takamura Seiji. It just… compounded on their dislike of gaijin and centered on me."

"Ah…" Rei-sensei murmured to himself. He watched the blonde thoughtfully.

"Let me explain the situation at hand," he said eventually, leaning forward to look Deidara straight in the eye. "Akatsuki is a group of the best students I could find out of all the villages and all the age groups. In normal circumstances, I would have asked you to join in a few months after watching you a little bit longer." Here he shifted and his tone took on a grimmer sense.

"However, at the current time we cannot afford to wait. A… former student of mine, known to you perhaps as the professor of ninja history Orochimaru and I had a… disagreement. He is now determined to wipe me and the rest of Akatsuki out, no matter what the consequences.

"Right now, he is gathering numbers of students at this school to him that he can command. He currently has a group, by my estimate, of almost twenty times our size. That's two _hundred_ ninja of varying degrees of skill- and it's growing daily. Before too long, he'll outnumber us by more than seventy to one.

"That's where you come in. I searched for the most talented ninja not already influenced by him, and came up with four candidates. You were already on the list- I've been watching you for about a month now- as well as two Konoha genin and an Ame chunnin. Bluntly, we need you- and I think I can say for certain that one of our members, Kisame, would like to meet you. I'm asking you to at the very least give it a try. Come to one of our meetings, and see how you like it."

He stopped and waited. Deidara was silent for a long minute, thinking quickly. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try; he might find it interesting. From Rei-sensei's explanation, they really needed him, and he was probably going to be offered to join in a few months anyway.

"All right," he said slowly. "I'll come to a meeting and decide from there."

The teacher smiled with, it seemed, genuine happiness. "Good," he approved. "The meeting starts five minutes after school, and we meet in here. I'll see you then."

It was a dismissal, and Deidara accepted the pass and left the room quickly.

* * *

The bell signaling the end of the school day found Deidara making his way back to room 131. Because his Western Literature class was five doors down, he got there early enough to meet one of the group already waiting outside the door.

A rather short teenager in a chunnin flak-jacket and a black cloak with white-lined red clouds combining long black hair and empty black eyes that Deidara almost mistook for a girl leaned against the wall next to the door. His headband identified him as a Konoha nin. He glanced at the blonde, and did a double-take. He looked slightly surprised.

"Aren't you the kid Sasori ran off?" he said in a soft voice. "What was your name… Taiga Deidara?"

Deidara shrugged. "Hai."

The guy gave a small nod, hesitated, and extended a hand. "Uchiha Itachi," he said.

Deidara looked at him, then at the proffered hand, and grasped it briefly. He nodded back. "Konichiwa."

"So," Itachi went on. "You decided to join after all?"

Deidara shrugged again. "Rei-sensei asked me to try it out at least," he explained.

Itachi nodded in a satisfied way. "Good," he said. "Sasori's pretty much the only one in the group that really hates gaijin."

They were interrupted by a tall boy with blue hair and… gills? What?

"Itachi you bastard," he said angrily to Deidara's conversation partner. "You left me alone with this idiot!" He pointed to a grinning genin with spiky blonde hair and another Konoha headband.

Itachi looked slightly amused. "Gave him a rough time, did you?" he said to the grinning kid, who nodded. "Good. He's far too smug most of the time." He turned to Deidara, and motioned to the shark kid. "This is Hoshigaki Kisame and Uzumaki Naruto," he told him. "This is Taiga Deidara, the kid Sasori ran off. Rei-sama asked him to do a trial run."

Naruto clapped. "Good for you," he said cheerfully. "Sasori's a prick. Don't let him stop you from doing anything."

"Nice to meet you," Kisame said to him, and seemed to really mean it. His headband had the Kiri symbol on it- four wavy lines. He also had a black cloak on. "He's right- Sasori can be a prick when it comes to gaijin. Don't worry about it."

At that moment, Rei-sensei slid the door open. "Come on in," he said to them, just as two kunoichi came up. One was in what Deidara recognized at last as the uniform for the group, and had blue hair with a flower in it on the right side of her head, from Kumo. The other was a tall Ame chunnin with brilliant green hair that must have been hell to dye.

"Takikko-chan!" Kisame said. "And Yuri-chan! This is Deidara." He waved to the Iwa nin. "He's ignoring Sasori and coming anyway."

"That's good," the girl called Takikko said. "But can you move so we can get in? You're blocking the doorway." The two girls slipped past them and went into the room beyond. Kisame followed them, and Deidara walked in with Itachi and Naruto. They took their seats on various desks around Kisame's choice of seat.

A few seconds later, Sasori and a green-haired golden-eyed teenager with a Kusa headband and both wearing a cloak, entered deep in conversation about puppets.

"They ones that are so lifelike make me hungry," the Kusa nin complained. "I can never go to any theatre with them as the attraction. It sucks."

"But if they're that lifelike, it means they are art," Sasori said heatedly. "You can't eat art!"

"Watch me," his companion snapped.

"Zetsu!" crowed Kisame. "This is Deidara." He seemed to have designated himself as official introducer, or something.

The green-haired kid looked at him, blinked, and said, "Konichiwa. From Iwa, right?" He glanced at Deidara's headband. "So you're the kid who took out Takamura? That's cool."

Sasori on the other hand looked at him tight-lipped and followed Zetsu to sit down near the two kunoichi after glaring at Itachi and Kisame. He then proceeded to ignore the blonde.

Two more students burst through the doorway: both chunnin, one came from Taki and one came from Kusa.

"Hidan and Kakuzu," Kisame said to Deidara. "Oi! Bastards! This is Deidara, from Iwa."

Hidan looked at him intently and demanded, "Are _you_ a believer?"

Kakuzu, on the other hand, waved briefly and said, "You're the one who took out Takamura Seiji? Way to go. He was a smug bastard. He needed to be taken down a peg… or two, or four."

Hidan didn't seem to be able to let go of the believer question. "Are you or aren't you?" he asked insistently.

"No, he's not you idiot," Kakuzu said disgustedly. "Now shut up." He pulled the silver-haired teen over to the corner closest to the door.

"We shall begin, then."

Everyone fell silent as Rei-sensei spoke. He lounged in the chair behind his desk.

"Zetsu, report on how you are doing with Tobi," he said calmly.

"He can be annoying, but he's interested," the golden-eyed boy replied. "He was going to come today, but he got detention for talking too much in one of his classes."

Someone, probably Hidan, snickered. Zetsu grinned helplessly and shrugged.

"I think we have Masuda Yuri here already. Masuda, would you like to speak?"

The green-haired girl nodded. "I think I'll stay," she said. "I need something more challenging to do."

"Ah. That's nice. We can fit you for a uniform today after the meeting, then."

Naruto waved a hand cheerfully saying, "I want to stay too, this is cool! And I can prank you all!" He laughed, and rubbed the back of his head when everyone turned to look at him.

"Very well," Rei-sensei said amusedly. "We'll have you fit, too, then." He nodded to Deidara and his tone changed to a more business-like one.

"Now, does anyone have information on Orochimaru?" he asked. He got up and walked to the blackboard, picking up some chalk. He wrote at the top **Information** as everyone turned to look at the board, excluding Takikko, who got up and sat behind the computer on Rei-sensei's desk. She did something, and sat poised and waiting. The teacher glanced at her and she nodded.

"All right. We know he has a large following in the school, and they're called Oto. Their numbers at this time are about two hundred." He wrote down "Called Oto" and "200." Takikko started typing, and Deidara realized that she was like the secretary.

"His second in command is Yakushi Kabuto," Yuri said. "Konoha nin, rank is ANBU. He specializes in the medical field- he's taught personally by Tsunade herself, along with Haruno Sakura."

"Great. That's great," Rei-sensei said enthusiastically. He wrote down what she'd just said, as Takikko recorded it.

"He has a group of five students called the Sound Five," Itachi said coolly from where he sat. "One of them, the leader, is from the Kaguya clan. There's an Earth Technique specialist, a spider summoner, a pair of brothers who share a body, and a flutist with a bad mouth who make up the rest of the group."

"Many of his followers work with sound incorporated into their techniques somehow," Zetsu offered.

Rei-sensei wrote very fast, Deidara discovered. He was almost finished with all that information already. Takikko was typing furiously.

"I'm pretty sure Orochimaru's a gay pedophile," Hidan called. Kakuzu and Kisame snickered.

"Uchiha Sasuke's joined up with him," Naruto said. His earlier cheer had disappeared, and he seemed sad about this information. Itachi had stiffened. "He still hates Itachi and Orochimaru's offered him power."

Rei-sensei scowled as he wrote down this information.

"Won't Orochimaru know a lot of jutsus we've never heard of?" Kisame queried. "He's a damn history teacher. He reads a whole bunch of crap like that."

The teacher pointed to Kisame. "Exactly," he said. "We need to do a lot of research if we want to beat these guys. He's probably taught them a hell of a lot of tricks." He wrote down "Jutsus" and underlined it twice.

* * *

The discussion went on for another hour, mostly speculation on what Orochimaru had, didn't have, what he was planning, and what he was likely to do next.

At the end, Sasori was still very angry. The stupid gaijin looked like he was enjoying the meeting a lot. At least, he looked a lot happier than he had at lunch today.

When the meeting was at last over, he waited until everyone but Naruto, Yuri, and Deidara had left, and casually waited outside the door, eavesdropping on what they were doing.

"So Deidara, you gonna stay?" he heard Naruto ask.

An indistinct murmur answered the genin as the sound of Rei-sama opening the closet that held several spare Akatsuki cloaks came from the room. He heard the girl Yuri say something to the teacher.

A few minutes later, Naruto and Yuri made for the classroom door. Sasori did a few quick handseals and threw an invisibility jutsu over himself just as the two exited, talking about something. As soon as they were gone, he dropped the jutsu.

"Ah, Deidara…" a muffled bit "…choice?"

"I think I'll stay," he heard the gaijin say.

The sound of rustling cloth. "Try this," said Rei-sama.

The next part of the conversation was too indistinct for Sasori to hear anything. Not that he needed to. He stomped furiously into the classroom.

"Why did we need to invite _him_?" he snarled angrily to Rei-sama, pointing to the blonde and ignoring the fact that he shouldn't have revealed that he was outside the door all along.

The teacher scowled to see him. "Sasori," he said in a clipped tone that should have warned him to shut up and stay silent while leaving really fast. "He is here because of his talent and because we need him."

"But why a gaijin?" the red-head argued angrily, blatantly ignoring (again) what he should have been doing at this moment. "We can do perfectly fine without him. We can get much more talented _Japanese_ students. We don't have to have an American!"

Deidara was staring at him, mouth open in surprise. The blonde looked furious and… hurt?

"Enough."

The tone was quiet enough and so full of poison that Sasori finally snapped out of his ranting mode and listened to common sense.

"I thought you would have seen how badly we are outnumbered here," Rei-sama went on, voice very quiet. "Obviously, I was wrong. If you don't want to be part of this group anymore Sasori, you can turn in your cloak now."

Sasori bit his lip to keep himself from arguing further, shook his head, and bowed. He turned and left, disappearing in less than two seconds.

Damn you, gaijin. Why the hell did you have to come here? he thought bitterly as he stalked down the hall.

* * *

A/n- If you're thinking "OMG, they'll never get together!" about Sasori and Deidara, don't worry. They will. That's why I started writing this story after all.

I am also putting up an edited first chapter. Due either to my exhaustion or oversight, as surprising amount of errors ended up in it. I also cleaned up a few scenes and made them flow better.

(1)- Because America basically vaporized half of Japan's population and then took complete control over the country, preventing them from having an air force or a navy, Japan isn't too happy with us. The Japanese are a very proud people, and now we basically defend them if they get attacked. Because it's the least we can do after taking away their air force and navy.

(2)- In order: Leaf, Sand, Mist, Stone, Cloud

(3)- In order: Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Snow

You know, until last summer I didn't know why so many different countries disliked Americans so much. It wasn't until I had to sit between my sister and a reallllly fat, obnoxious and inconsiderate American dude that I found out. He took up all of his seat and half of mine- not to mention that I had to endure this for ten **hours**.Did I forget that he got up three different times to go to the bathroom- when he sat in the window seat?

And thanks to all my reviewers- you made my day guys!


	3. You Know They’re Doomed

**Disclaimer: **I wish it was mine. I really do. But it doesn't. (sighs sadly)

**Warning:** Yaoi. Boy/boy. KisaIta and SasoDei, though not yet. Swearing. Abuse. You know. The usual.

Replies to anonymous reviews:

SeargentTickles- Glad you think it's a kick-ass fic. I try to write kick-ass fics. Or laugh-your-ass-off fics :D I'm not sure about ZetTobi (whoa, that looks weird), mostly because I've never seen any, I absolutely HATE Tobi because he took Sasori's place in Akatsuki, and I'm not really sure how you could have sex with a guy who's half a plant and argues with himself constantly. If you could recommend some stories I could read, I might be able to do something...

Shinigami- Are you Japanese? Do you speak Japanese? If you do, you rock. I know not all Americans are jerks, because I've met hardly any and most of my friends are just as insane as I am (some even more), but that one guy just pretty much killed me... Thanks for reviewing!

...i'm not tellin'!- Glad you thinks so :D

* * *

3. You Know They're Doomed 

Sasori walked in and slammed the door shut after him. He kicked off his shoes and, forgoing any greeting to Chiyo, stalked to his room to seethe furiously by himself. He flopped face-down on his bed and buried his head in his pillow, half-determined to asphyxiate himself if only to piss off Rei-sama.

"Sasori?" his grandmother said, worry evident in her voice. He ignored her.

She slid open his door and watched him for a full minute. He heard her sigh and slide it shut.

Stupid gaijin… go back to your own country! he thought furiously. We don't fucking want or need you!

The more reasoned part of his mind argued, but what about Orochimaru and Oto, baka? You think he's not going to use gaijin if we aren't?

Sasori squished this part of his mind thoroughly. He was afraid it made to much sense.

They didn't need gaijin. Gaijin weren't worth anything.

…_he could crush us be sheer numbers if he had enough_...

No, Sasori thought firmly. We do NOT need gaijin.

…_crush us by sheer numbers_…

It doesn't matter where he gets the numbers, the reasoning part said matter-of-factly. He just needs to crush us. WE, on the other hand, need all the good help we can get. You saw his scores. He's better than most of the other members. It DOES NOT matter if he's gaijin.

He's from America! Sasori thought fiercely. They killed Obaa-san's brother and my parents!

Obaa-san's brother died almost sixty years ago, was the counterargument. And all that happened on that plane was that a fire started on board that they could not control. Is this blonde kid at fault for that? He was just your age. Not to mention that his father is Japanese in origin, and was just born there. He's not really that much different, except his mother was probably American.

But he's _gaijin_, Sasori thought half-heartedly.

He didn't ask to be, a part of him whispered. Are you damning him for what he cannot control?

Sasori couldn't answer. _Wouldn't_ answer.

* * *

Deidara snuck into his and his father's apartment. He was incredibly late, missing his curfew thing by almost an hour. Because he had been at the meeting, he had missed his train, and the next one hadn't been due for another hour. To add fuel to the fire, he hadn't called his dad to warn him, either- and now he was royally screwed. 

Just as he'd stealthily put his shoes next to the front door, he heard a slight cough as though someone was clearing his or her throat. He froze.

"Deidara. Where have you been?"

The question was simple, but the tone scared the blonde even more.

His father continued, not waiting for him to answer. "You missed your curfew by an hour. That was valuable study time. And you wasted it."

If you'd just let me go to my room and start studying, I'll be done by dinner, Deidara thought, silently pleading the taller man to leave off a beating. He might be a ninja, but his father was almost a foot taller than he and sturdily set, and had had shinobi training that he used regularly. Deidara took after his mother, coming in height at about 5'7, and was almost bird-like. Either way, his father could still beat him and he could do nothing about it.

He turned slowly, just in time to see the fist before it hit him. Pain and white exploded in his left eye, and he staggered back a few steps.

"This is what happens to people like you who don't come home on time," his father said as coldly as if he had been the one who killed his mother. "They get beaten up or mugged in some dark alley." He hit the blonde's left eye again.

As an instinctive reaction, Deidara brought up both hands to cup around the throbbing eye. The other man caught one and twisted it tightly behind the blonde's back. Something cracked. Deidara bit his lip to keep from screaming, tasting blood from where he'd bitten through. His father let go, and he dropped to his knees, gasping silently.

"And now, because you were late, you have to go to the hospital," his father said quietly as the blonde slowly pulled his arm around to cradle it against his chest, biting back pain. "Get up."

* * *

Sasori came to school the next day utterly exhausted. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, from arguing bitterly with himself long into the night. 

Temari, a blonde fan-wielding chunnin a year below him was the first to look at him and say, "You look like shit. What happened to your streak of eternal gorgeousness?"

Sasori scowled at her. "I didn't get much sleep," he mumbled. He dropped into his seat and rested his head against his arms.

"Looks like you didn't," she said drily. "As I have previously stated. What's been eating you?"

"Nothing."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"…wanna spar during practice today? I don't have anything better to do."

"Sure."

* * *

Sasori spent the rest of the morning dreading lunch, as his chances of running into the blonde gaijin were high- Iwa and Suna lunchtimes were the same. Strangely enough, he didn't find the blonde, although he looked around whenever he glimpsed something yellow. 

"Gah, what's into you?" Kisame finally demanded as Sasori jumped for the sixty-somethingth time. "It's like you're sitting on a pan of oil or something."

"It's not Deidara is it?" Itachi asked reproachfully. "Did you beat him up or something? He stayed home sick today. I asked Rei-sama about it."

Sasori stared at him. "Sick?" he said. "How'd he get sick?"

Itachi shrugged. "I dunno," he answered. "I got his home address, though, so Kisame and I are going to go over after school and drop off homework and stuff."

At this point Naruto came over and dropped onto the bench. "Hey," he said, setting down two trays crowded with food. The three friends stared at it all.

The blonde genin noticed. "Hey, I'm _hungry_," he complained. "I was sparring all day with Rock Lee- he's a taijutsu master. You'd be hungry too."

"Not likely," murmured Itachi. Sasori rolled his eyes while Kisame snickered.

Naruto flapped a hand at them and started stuffing his face so fast it was disgusting. "Ish 'er a mee'in' 'o-ay?" he asked through a full mouth.

"What?" Itachi said, looking repulsed at the sight.

"I think he said 'Is there a meeting today?'" Kisame clarified.

"Oh," Itachi said, as Sasori said, "No."

"We usually only have meetings once or twice a week," Kisame added. "But if you've got free time, d'you want to come with Itachi and me to take Deidara his work?"

Sasori's mouth tightened imperceptibly at the reminder. He felt guilty, as though it was his fault the gaijin was sick.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said. "I live with Jiraiya that pervy science teacher, he won't mind."

"Great. What's your last class? We'll meet you outside of it or something," Itachi told him.

Sasori scowled and went to dump his tray as the three made plans on meeting each other after school.

* * *

Itachi met Kisame at the spot for meeting after school the three had designated: a secluded spot near the parking lot. Naruto was nowhere in sight as the taller boy yanked the smaller into a quick make out session, delving into the Konoha nin's mouth and yanking on the Uchiha's ponytail for better access. When both felt Naruto's presence coming closer to them at an increasing rate of speed, they broke apart. 

"We have to get some more done tonight," Kisame muttered into his boyfriend's ear as he reluctantly drew away.

Itachi gave him a quick kiss and pulled to one side just as Naruto burst in shouting "WHOO! Let's hit the road!"

"You're awful happy for a blonde guy," Kisame said, scowling at the genin. Naruto made a disgusted noise and flapped a hand.

"Who cares about you, eh?" he demanded.

"Whatever," Itachi said, walking to his car. "Get your asses moving or one of those crazy fangirls'll come and start begging for a ride home."

At this, Kisame shuddered. Naruto saw it.

"Hey, it's not _that_ bad, is it?" he said. "You could beat them all."

"But when they gang up on you," Kisame replied heavily, imagining the horrors of the fangirls as he slid into the front seat, "it gets a lot harder."

"Oh."

The drive to Deidara's apartment was a long one. Traffic was bad enough, and Kisame, whom Naruto found to be an incredibly bad navigator, kept giving them the wrong directions. Itachi finally told him to shut up, and the ride shortened considerably.

The arrived in an area of Western-style apartments and buildings. The address Itachi had scribbled down led them to one of the larger buildings. They piled out of the car as soon as it stopped.

"Okay," Kisame said, squinting at the writing on the scrap of paper. "It says floor five here-"

"Give me that," Itachi muttered, and stole the paper. He scanned it and said grudgingly, "…floor five. You're right."

Kisame grinned and punched the air triumphantly as Naruto snickered. They walked into the building and found the stairs.

Naruto seized them up, and started to run, yelling "Last one there sucks shitballs!" Kisame and Itachi both ignored this, and continued at a calmer pace. They caught up to him on the third floor, where he was leaning against the railing and gasping.

"Brat," Kisame said as they passed him and continued. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and followed, at a much slower pace than before.

On floor five, they faced a hallway with three doors- one to the right with the number 13, one to the left with the number 15, and one in the middle with the number 14.

Itachi consulted the scrap of paper again. "Room 15," he said briefly.

Kisame walked to the door and knocked, Itachi and Naruto close behind. Soon they heard footsteps behind the door, a thump, and a muffle curse. The door opened and Deidara faced them.

Kisame and Naruto's jaws dropped. Itachi had a look of shock on his face. And Deidara blanched and slammed the door shut again, but not before the three had seen his face bearing a blackened eye and an arm covered in a cast.

"Oh my god," Naruto muttered.

"What the _hell_?" demanded Kisame. "He couldn't have gotten that sparring or anything, 'cause he went straight home!"

"Don't tell me Sasori did that," Itachi said weakly.

The other two fell silent.

"He _didn't_," Kisame breathed. "He wouldn't dare."

Itachi strode forward. "Deidara!" he called, and banged on the door. "What the hell happened?"

A muffled yell came back. "Nothing!" A note of panic was in it.

"Let us in!" Kisame said, voice loud.

Nothing happened. Itachi scowled. "Did Sasori do it?" he snapped to the door.

The door remained silent.

Kisame looked furious. "I'm gonna _kill_ him," he snarled. "Itachi, do you know how to get to Sasori's place?"

"Not yet," Itachi said coldly. He turned to the door again. "Deidara, what happened?" he asked in a somewhat calmer voice.

"I fucking tripped," the blonde said, voice muffled.

"Like shit you did!" Kisame snapped. "It was Sasori, wasn't it?"

"No! He didn't fucking do anything!"

Itachi looked at Kisame, who appeared to be struggling to keep from hijacking Itachi's car. Naruto cautiously blocked the stairwell at a glance from the Uchiha.

"Will you at least let us come in?" Naruto asked, eyeing Kisame and how much larger he was.

"No. I'll… see you tomorrow. At school."

Itachi looked slightly unsettled. Kisame looked confused. Naruto was still watching Kisame to be prepared if Kisame went to hijack the car.

Itachi face changed to that of one who is sneaky. He had one of those sneaky faces you see in movies on. "All right, then," he said with a convincing tone of doubt. "We'll… see you tomorrow then." He motioned for Kisame and Naruto to follow him and they left, clomping down the stairs.

* * *

From right behind the door, Deidara blew out a sigh of relief. They were gone. He walked away from the door and made his way to his room. He stopped in the kitchen to get something to drink, and continued to his objective. He opened the door, closed it, and then froze when Itachi dropped the invisibility jutsu he'd been using. 

"Shit," he muttered weakly.

"Damn straight," the Uchiha said comfortably. He leaned against one of the walls. Now he straightened and walked forward. The blonde noticed that the other's Sharingan was spinning slowly, pinwheeling around the red iris.

"Is Kisame and Naruto in here somewhere?" Deidara asked, and edge to the question as he glanced around the room.

"No. Downstairs," Itachi replied. He was standing in front of the blonde now. Reaching out, he caught the other's chin and tilted the blonde's head so the light would be better. He frowned as he looked the black eye over.

"So. What exactly happened?" he asked coolly.

"Nothing. I tripped."

"The excuse isn't very good," Itachi chided quietly.

Deidara's mouth twitched, but he repeated stubbornly, "I tripped. And fell. Down the… stairs."

Itachi let go. "Did someone help you, then?" he asked.

The blonde shook his head. "I caught my foot on the railing base," he said, making it up on the spot. The Sharingan saw right through it, of course.

"Then how come you weren't at school today?"

"Otou-san… thought I should have a day off," Deidara replied, smiling with a strange cynical twist in it that Itachi took note of.

The Uchiha was silent, watching him carefully. "Ah." He seemed satisfied with the answer. "Well then. I had probably better get going, then." He turned, and waving, he hopped out of the open window that was obviously the way he had come in in the first place.

* * *

"Not Sasori," Itachi said calmly to Kisame and Naruto, who were waiting by the car. "He says he tripped and fell down the stairs." 

"But if that happened, wouldn't he have to fall down a lot of stairs in order to break his arm?" Naruto wondered aloud. He frowned. "And wouldn't he have a lot more bruises than just one black eye?"

"Exactly," Itachi assured him. "Something's not quite right. And wouldn't it be hard to trip against the base of the railing when the railing's like a wall? Or continued falling down stairs when you hit the switchback part? Not to mention that the Sharingan eye is the most effective lie detector in the world."

"Are you _sure_ Sasori didn't do this?" Kisame asked doubtfully.

"I'm not _sure_, Kisame," Itachi corrected. "But he did seem surprised when he found out Deidara was 'sick,' and Deidara himself seemed surprised when we asked about Sasori. I don't _think_ Sasori did it, although it is a possibility."

He didn't mention Deidara's comment about his father thinking he should have a day off. He had a feeling they'd probably find out what it meant sooner or later, and he already had a pretty good idea.

* * *

Deidara returned to school the next day. Speculations ran through the school over what could have happened, though they were only speculations. 

A week passed, then another and another with nothing interesting happening. Oto and Orochimaru did not attack, nor did they do anything outright suspicious. Three more teens were recruited to Akatsuki: another sword user from Kiri, recommended by Kisame, Momichi Zabuza, his loyal companion Haku, and the other medic nin being trained by Tsunade, Haruno Sakura. They fit in very well with the rest of the group.

Sasori and Deidara avoided each other like the plague, though, and caused a sort of rift in the group. Sasori refused to speak to the blonde, and the blonde completely ignored him. Sasori's manner when he was actually confronted with Deidara had changed as well. Instead of outright disgust, he was merely icily polite. This seemed to confuse the blonde, but he got used to it after a few days. He had more to think about, now, like the fact that he was actually starting to like the red-head for unexplainable reasons.

Alerted by Deidara's comment, Itachi carefully watched the blonde. He noticed that Deidara would periodically come to school with bruises or cuts and no justifiable reason of why. He did not have any more bones broken, though Itachi could swear he'd come to school with a sprained wrist or ankle on more than one occasion.

By mid-October, Deidara's cast had been removed, and he, Itachi, Kisame, and Naruto, along with Zabuza and Haku celebrated it by having a sparring tournament. Itachi came in first, Haku second, Deidara third, Kisame and Zabuza tied for fourth (they knocked each other out), and Naruto fifth. The genin had sworn explosively at this, much to the amusement of everyone present.

This was probably the happiest time in Deidara's life to date. He was pretty sure he had been happy when his mother was still alive, but it was so long ago he could hardly remember. Because he'd been hard-pressed to make up excuses for the injuries his father inflicted on him, he'd stayed away from other kids as a rule, and made no attempts to socialize, resulting in him being alone for pretty much all of his life, and not one of them tried anyway. The mouths on his hands he'd gained from a forbidden textbook he'd stolen form the school library vaults in LA were considered way too weird by the other students. But with a bunch of students who looked and had weirder things- Zetsu wore a henge pretty much all the time so people wouldn't freak out about a guy with a venus flytrap on their head, and Deidara was pretty sure an obsession with a religion promoting wholesale slaughtering was definitely weird- he really didn't have to worry. He could always pass it off as kekkai genkai anyway, and definitely a lot of people had that in Akatsuki, as well as the rest of the villages.

Also at this time, his father was busy working on a trade-agreement pact between America and Japan that consumed a lot of his time and made him too tired to really do anything except give him small bruises and the like- though when he got angry, he was liable to sprain something of Deidara's. But it was better than coming to school with nasty injuries like a broken nose or something (which had happened five different times in California).

All in all, it was a fairly peaceful time, except for the whole Sasori thing. Until, that is, the leader decided they needed to get rid of their differences and close the rift thing in the group. To do this, Rei-sama called in Itachi and Kisame to help work it out. The Uchiha mansion was an ideal place to work it out, after all.

* * *

"So Itachi… why are we here again?" Deidara asked grumpily as he surveyed the Uchiha's inheritance. 

Itachi waved a hand at him as they made their way down the street. "Rei-sama asked me to work with the two of you to get rid of your differences. And it's vacation. _And_ we're going to be put in pairs, and everyone but you two have been paired up."

"But what about Zetsu?" Sasori said, annoyed. "He's not partnered up. One of us could go with him instead of having to work together."

"Zetsu is Rei-sama's spy," Kisame said cheerfully from the front seat. "He needs to be able to work alone. And you know everyone else is already partnered up satisfactorily, except for you two. And it's not worth it to break up another pair just so you two can keep that nice distance between yourselves."

"Hmph," the red-head muttered, and went back to staring out the window.

"Hey, don't worry, it'll be fun!" Kisame said cheerfully. He glanced at Itachi, who seemed hard-pressed to not snicker evilly and forebodingly.

Deidara wasn't paying attention anymore as he also looked out the window, thinking up new artistic endeavors. He started dreaming up a new bomb, starting with the shape- it'd look sort of like those clowns you were supposed to punch in a psychologist's office in shape, with customary holes for eyes and wings that wrapped around its body. He wanted to add wings because he liked wings. Wings were cool. And it would be able to take out a whole sector at school at full strength… yeah…

So busy thinking about the new bomb, he didn't notice the sidelong looks the red-head was giving him. Sasori was doing his own thinking, mainly about said blonde.

The past few months had been… strange, to say the least. When Deidara had come to school with a broken arm and a ferocious-looking black eye, he had been shocked. Because he had seen the statistics of the blonde's fighting skills, he knew that no one below Akatsuki level could seriously challenge him. And he'd be able to go through a fight with half of the members of said organization and come out of it probably less than that.

So, like Itachi, he'd started to watch the explosives expert. And he, too, had noticed that as the months went by, he'd gain unexplained bruises, cuts, and sprains. He wasn't surprised the other members noticed- they probably thought it was training that had done it if they _had_ noticed- but his long study of human physiology (damn it, he was a puppet master after all) had told him everything about the blonde on sight, and certain odd ways Deidara would walk or favor a hand let him know about the blonde's current physical state. And the red-head began to feel rather protective of the gaijin.

This careful watching had, however, turned into a sort of obsession. And then, much to Sasori's dismay, the protectiveness was fully explained when he started having rather… provocative dreams. About the blonde.

Damn. Life really liked to play tricks on you.

He recalled something he'd heard from another random gaijin girl who seemed to be impersonating something. He'd known enough basic English to know what she said, but he'd never fully appreaciated what it meant until now.

"Mama always said life was like a vacuum cleaner," the girl drawled. "It sucks." (1)

Yep. Life sucked.

In an attempt to counteract these strange feelings, he'd tried to become cold and distant, or ignore the explosives expert entirely. Unfortunately, all he could manage was icily polite.

And now Itachi and Kisame had said something about "pairing them up." He did not like the sound of that. It would probably undermine everything he'd been working for in recent weeks. Nor did he like how Kisame seemed extraordinarily amused by the situation, or by the fact it looked like Itachi was trying very hard to keep from laughing.

When they finally got to the Uchiha mansion that Itachi had inherited when his parents (and the rest of his family… they were doing some sort of family thing at the time, though why they had been in the subways when they probably all had cars was beyond him) had died, he was incredibly relieved to be out of the car. You could say he was slightly claustrophobic in certain situations.

The only people who lived here were Kisame and Itachi, and the mansion was huge. Sasuke, Itachi's annoying younger brother had left as soon as he could safely do so and rented his own tiny apartment somewhere. For some reason he had a delusion that Itachi had killed the family. Probably because just a few months before the gassing attack, Itachi had been involved with the religious group who had masterminded the whole operation. Kisame had moved in almost five years ago, because his mother was weak but controlling while his father had left just a year before, and Itachi and Sasuke also just happened to have a nice big mansion with no parental figures in sight. Sasori was pretty sure he and Itachi shared the same room now, too.

"Come on, this way," Itachi said, motioning for them to continue along a gravel pathway. The grounds were beautiful, but rather overgrown and wild, mostly due to the fact that Itachi had never seen any use for gardeners when only he, his brother, and his best friend ever came here anyway. And he liked overgrown gardens. You were better able to hide in them.

The four of them walked up to the door that was supposed to be grand, but long years of neglect (neither Itachi nor Kisame really cared, actually), the door looked rather small and insignificant. Kisame kicked it open without much regard, and walked carelessly in, Itachi following. Deidara came in next, and Sasori came last.

"I'm hungry- are you guys?" Itachi asked brightly. Kisame and Deidara cheerfully said yes, so they made their way to the kitchen.

Itachi politely opened the door, and Deidara walked in, followed by Kisame. Sasori brought up the rear, Itachi coming in last.

It was then, Sasori discovered, the trap was sprung. Kisame had casually gone back to where Itachi was, and the two of them went back out of the room faster than Sasori expected. The door slammed shut and there was a slapping sound as clearly a holding seal was placed on the door.

"What!" Deidara yelled, looking shocked. Sasori tried the door, hope dying. Yup. It was sealed. He looked over at the two windows- seals covered both of them. And he was pretty sure that they, along with the one on the door, were written specifically for his and the blonde's techniques.

Damn Rei-sama.

"Ah… just so you know guys, you two aren't coming out until you talk," Kisame said through the door. He sounded like he was grinning one of those crazy shark grins he always wore.

"Yeah, we suggest you start talking soon…" Itachi said, voice muffled. He started laughing.

"About what?" Deidara demanded.

"Oh, you know." Kisame's voice was vague- it sounded like they were moving away from the door. Probably to go make out in their room Sasori thought sourly. "Likes, dislikes… your life story and all that."

"You suck," Sasori informed them.

No answer.

Shit, he thought dismally, and turned to face Deidara.

* * *

A/n- Yes, another chapter finished at one in the morning… 

I've decided that I really need a beta reader who edits all this for me, so if anyone's interested, drop me a line. And review while you're at it. Reviews make me feel good :D

(1) My muse Andy-chan said this once, and it sounds hilarious if you say it in a southern drawl.


	4. Life Stories And All That

**Disclaimer:** Once again, not mine. If it were mine, Tobi would be dead (or have stayed dead…), Zetsu would have a more active role, and Sasori would not be dead. It's as simple as that.

**Warning:** SasoDeiness! Not to mention, OMG. IT'S HERE. The LEMON! WHOOO! Also implied KisaIta sex.

Replies to anonymous reviews and PMs:

**Shinigami- **That's cool! Too bad you can't speak it fluently, though… Ah. So am I :D My mom worked in Japan for three years as an English teacher, so she knows some things. And the school I will start in a week (OMFG, SCHOOL'S STARTED- CRAP!) offers it at the university, so it's all… cool :D Well, to answer your question (sort of), Itachi already has some serious doubts because he's smarter than everyone else, y'know?

**Sakura15-** If I ever stop writing this story, either the summary thing'll say "ABANDONED" or I'll clearly announce it on my profile page. So you don't have to worry, because the only stories I don't update are all my oneshots and Random Tales. 

**PoisonandCinderella-** Oh, yes. Never, ever, enough SasoDei. That's usually why I write stories about couples that no one else ever writes in detail about. Like NaruGaa! And why I started a C2 archive of NaruGaa stuff :P

* * *

4. Life Stories And All That

Sasori stared at Deidara. Deidara stared back.

The two were in front of the kitchen door, unable to get out because Itachi and Kisame had thrown them in there, slapped warding seals that drained chakra, completely unraveled their techniques, and created a solid layer of chakra along the walls on the door and windows, and then went up to their room to make out and possibly have sex. This pretty much meant they were stuck in there for an hour or two, or they would be if a certain Uchiha- you are _SO DEAD_ Itachi!- hadn't told them that they weren't allowed to come out until they stopped being such bastards to each other. In essence, anyway.

Itachi is so dead. I will draw and quarter him with wild horses(1), and then turn him into a puppet and force him to watch as I slowly feed Kisame to Zetsu alive. And I will laugh. Horribly.

"What are you thinking about? You look like you're ready to kill someone."

The question threw Sasori off balance. He had been so immersed in his plots to gruesomely kill a certain Uchiha, he had forgotten the reason he was mad at him was right here. Standing in front of him. God, he was hot… he wondered what he sounded like in-

STOP RIGHT THERE! AGH! FUCK! Actually that would be nice. NO, NO, DON'T GO THERE. DON'T THI- ACTUALLY, STOP THINKING. GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF. Don't think. Don't think. Don't think…

…_but he's so HOT!_ the inner fangirl/boy/whatever it was squealed.

And the internal battle was renewed.

"…hello… Sasori… dude… SNAP OUT OF IT. What the hell's gotten into you? Usually when I'm around you're an icy bastard," Deidara said, annoyed, waving a hand in front of his face.

Ninja instincts took over and Sasori snatched the wrist, holding it still. For one long moment, he froze, and then dropped the blonde's wrist like a hot coal and blushed furiously while turned away from the explosives expert, completely confusing the other teen (who hadn't noticed the blush). The red-head walked over to the knee-high table in one corner, obviously used for quick meals when the family was still alive and plopped himself down on one of the chair-cushions on the floor. It pitifully exhaled a cloud of dust and flattened, showing exactly how much house care the current owner and his half-shark boyfriend lavished on the house. Uncaring, Sasori put his head down on the table and mentally berated himself for thinking. About anything and everything. Namely: blonde teenager who's shorter than me and incredibly hot. Shit! Stop thinking. Stop thinking…

"Er… Sasori? Are you falling asleep?" Deidara wanted to know, and poked the red-head's shoulder. The puppeteer twitched, but otherwise did nothing.

"Okay," the blonde went on, and sat down cross-legged on the tabletop instead. It didn't look like anyone used it, so he took no notice of the impoliteness of action- you usually just don't go down and sit on someone's table without being invited to first, after all. "I don't know about you, Mister I've-Gotta-Frickin'-Huge-Stick-UpMyAss, but I really do not want to be stuck in here with no bathroom. Seriously. And I really don't think you do, either. So… I'm a 5'7 blue-eyed blonde explosion-happy Japanese-American. My dad's whole family was from Japan originally, Nagasaki area. You know. They came over sometime after World War II."

Sasori half-listened to the blonde talk. He was now trying to stop thinking about how close the artist was to him.

"…and he hates it when I get bad grades, so that's why I beat the crap outta everyone and just studied my ass off. And I hate him, but I'm still four months away from being able to under American law move out of apartment and find my own place. I have money I've hidden from him and-"

"Why are you hiding things from him?" Sasori asked curiously, looking up. He briefly forgot his inner argument as he looked suspiciously at the Iwa nin, who went a few shades paler and hastily said, "Nothing, no reason…"

Unfortunately for Deidara, the blonde's hesitance and recently-uncovered dislike for his father clicked with something in Sasori's head. He remembered reading the teen's profile and how it had mentioned various injuries- and he himself had thought about it. Abuse. His father was beating him and whatever else abuse entailed.

Deidara knew very well what the red-head had just figured out. He'd just watched the damn look of dawning comprehension come on to Sasori's face, for God's sake.

"Shit," he breathed, staring at the puppeteer, who raised an eyebrow. He flinched slightly and twisted himself around so Sasori was staring at his back.

"Your father beats you," the red-head said in an oddly flat voice. The blonde squinched himself smaller and refused to answer.

"For how long?" he heard Sasori say behind him. He kept his silence. So did Sasori.

"…since kaa-san died," he muttered finally after five minutes of quiet. "About eight years ago." He steeled himself, praying that the puppeteer wouldn't taunt him with this. He wouldn't put it past the other nin.

"When I was three, my parents were killed in a plane crash," Sasori remarked. "And now I live with my grandmother in her apartment. I've gone to that school since I was ten."

"Huh?" Deidara said.

Sasori looked bored. "You said you wanted to get out of here fast. I do too. So can we move on here?"

The blonde looked rather shocked. Obviously he was expecting something more from the red-head about the whole abuse factor, but all Sasori could feel was Damnit,I'mgonnafuckin'kickyourass!ness towards the dad, and that would definitely be strange if he let it show.

"Anyway," Sasori went on in monotone, "I met Itachi and Kisame at the school. That was two and a half years before Itachi's family was killed in that terrorist gas attack of the subways. They were best friends and we started hanging out together in the years we spent as Academy Students, and we still hang around after we got split up into villages when we were genin. And… that's basically it."

Deidara was facing him again. "Why do you hate gaijin so much?" the blonde asked warily, eyeing him distrustfully. "I mean, I haven't really done anything to you, so I really don't know."

Sasori sighed. "Actually, it was my grandmother who _really_ hates gaijin. Especially Americans. Her husband did a kamikaze mission in World War II that involved doing a suicide stunt into one of their ships at Pearl Harbor, and her brother died on one of their naval ships. And then, of course, my parents died on a plane crash- it was an American line. So… yeah." He seemed rather embarrassed about it.

Deidara considered this. "Oh. You mean the whole 'if they grow up with it, they do it' factor thing in parenting everyone always says?"

Sasori shifted slightly and looked away. "Probably."

After a short pause passed, Sasori looked back at the blonde. "So… your father broke your arm then?"

This time the blonde didn't spin around. Instead, his mouth tightened imperceptibly and he looked rather grim. His gaze dropped to the tabletop, and he started tracing patterns on the wood with one finger. It looked like pine, and it was very nicely varnished, Deidara thought.

"What did you do to make him so angry?" the red-head wanted to know.

The blonde scowled. It was such a stupid reason… "I came home late. For a damn curfew he put on me." Silently he swore at his father for putting him in this position.

"You have a curfew? Why?"

"Because I'm supposed to be top of my class. Which I already am. But that includes getting all homework and studying done before nine."

"But why-"

"Look, why do you even _care_?" Deidara demanded, interrupting Sasori rudely. "Just a few hours ago you were an annoying icy bastard who hated gaijin and wanted nothing to do with me."

Sasori glared at him. "Because I fucking feel sorry for you!"

Now the blonde looked furious. "You feel _sorry_ for me?" His voice cracked slightly as he leaned down close to the puppeteer's face, blocking out any emotions other than anger. "Shut up. I don't want any fucking pity from-"

Once again, someone in the room was interrupted. But not by words this time. Instead, Sasori had opted to lean forward and kiss the explosives expert, since he just couldn't take the fact that a really hot blonde dude he really, really liked was leaning in his face. Oh, and he looked really hot when he was angry, too.

Deidara froze, eyes wide. All his focus came down to one thing- the fact that Sasori's mouth was pressed against his own. This would have made anyone freeze, but the particular tricky little snag to this one was that the Iwa nin had been pretty much dreaming about something like this for the past month.

The kiss broke. Sasori looked rather smug as he watched the stunned blonde whose mouth had dropped open and was gaping like a fish out of water as he stared incredulously at the puppeteer. The red-head was slightly apprehensively as he waited for Deidara's next action.

The blonde blinked and his mouth snapped shut. He mind was screaming over and over _OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!_ and seemed only able to focus on that solitary thought, nicely erasing the previous angry in-your-face conversation he'd just been engaged in with the puppeteer.

…on the other hand, this solved quite a few problems. Sure, it looked like he was either gay or bi (he wasn't sure which, and didn't really care), but at least now he knew the teen he had a crush on liked him too. This is always a good thing, no matter what country you're in.

After watching Deidara blink a bit more, Sasori concluded that since the blonde had not flinched away or started running around screaming, he could be pretty sure that the gaijin didn't mind. That decided, he reached up, grabbed the other teen's jaw, and pulled him in for another kiss, a lot deeper than the first.

At first, Deidara had thought 'Wha?...', and then promptly lost the ability to think at all as the sensations overwhelmed him when Sasori had deepened the kiss. He let out a slight moan as the red-head ravaged his mouth, Sasori's hand cradling the back of his head, pulling him down. Deidara distractedly grasped the other's collar and fisted his other hand in red hair.

This went on for about two minutes before they had to break for air. Deidara's hair was rather disheveled, and Sasori's eyes had a slight look of wildness, which, combined with his generally disheveled hair, made him look quite crazy. This seems to happen to a lot of people. He fairly yanked the blonde back into the kiss, pulling hard enough to bring Deidara off the table and into a rather compromising position straddling the other's hips. Neither seemed to care with chests flush against each other, tugging on hair and attempting to breathe in harsh gasps between kisses.

Sasori was experienced (he'd had a couple of girlfriends whom he dumped after a week each) in the art of making out, but he'd never done some that felt this way. The other times were usually lust or amusement, but never anything like _this_. This felt right. This was infinitely better than anything before, and all he wanted was a hell of a lot more.

Deidara on the other hand had had absolutely no previous experience, but this was easily beyond what he'd expected. Of course, he hadn't really expected to be dominated either, but did that matter? Nope. He kinda liked it this way. And he was pretty sure by now that he was gay, because he didn't think any girl could compare to _this_. Not to mention Sasori was a pretty good kisser.

He was brought out of his half-thinking half-dazed state when Sasori started tugging on his clothes insistently. He didn't seem to be able to actually figure out how to take off his clothes while being engaged in a make out session like this, but he was still trying to.

Deidara broke the kiss. "Stop it," he said.

Sasori looked rather dazed. "Stop what?" he said dazedly, looking a little unhappy about the abrupt stop of mouth-to-mouth contact.

"Trying to pull off my clothes. I don't think Itachi and Kisame's kitchen is exactly the right place to do what you have in mind."

Sasori blinked at him. Damnit, it should be a crime to do that! He was too fucking cute! "But we can't get out," he replied reasonably. "And Itachi and Kisame are probably having sex in their room, so we won't get out for at least another hour and a half."

"Oh." Deidara considered this for a moment. "Okay then."

* * *

**A/n- Okay, don't like graphic lemons, skip it because it's coming right after this. If you want to, I dunno, preserve your innocence (if you still have any), it's probably better if you do.**

* * *

The red-head instantly resumed his earlier attempts at pulling off Deidara's clothes; the blonde was too busy ripping off Sasori's to help him. This task was often confused with kissing as much of the other as possible, and both were locked in various kisses quite a lot during this time.

When the blonde was relieved of his shirt, flak-jacket, and headband, Sasori had lost his jacket and his headband had been tossed across the floor, because more often than not the blonde had been thoroughly distracted many different times in previously mentioned various kisses, and the puppeteer was not, mainly because he had initiated them. Deidara tugged the red-head's shirt off, and somehow Sasori had managed to pull off his pants. He couldn't remember that part, but it had obviously happened because Sasori had now pinned him to the ground and was staring at him rather intently, with an almost hungry expression on his face. It made the explosives expert damned glad he wasn't a very tasty fruit or something.

The blonde was panting for breath, and his chest rose and fell as he watched the puppeteer stare at him. Sasori smirked when he noticed the blonde looking at him, and leaned forward, straddling the Iwa nin's thighs, to start kissing his neck. The blonde was doing quite well, until Sasori nipped a particularly sensitive spot. Deidara gasped, and Sasori latched on and sucked, both teeth and tongue coming into play, setting the blonde to squirming and moaning under him.

The puppeteer stopped, looked at his handiwork, and turned to pay attention to the explosive expert's collarbone, which he kissed and nipped and sucked, and went further down Deidara's chest to a dusky nipple, and bit. The blonde made a sort of strangled squeak and his hands clenched involuntarily from where Sasori had them firmly in grasp.

Amused, the Suna nin did this again, and turned to the other one, repeating the action a third time. He spent some time just going back and forth between the two, alternating between making the blonde squeak, gasp, or moan. Then he headed down, leaving a trail of kisses to mark his path.

The blonde gasped when he kissed the head of the other's member, and hissed when the red-head gave it a delicate nip on the very end. He ran a tongue around it, and engulfed the whole in his mouth, making Deidara jerk and give a ragged gasping moan.

Sasori swirled a tongue around it and sucked hard. The blonde keened, grasping wildly for something to hang on to, and the puppeteer let go of his hands. They closed around bright red hair, jerking the other's head down involuntarily. Sasori followed through willingly and continued, sucking harder and harder each time.

Now and then he would pull off and kiss, nip, or lick along the blonde's length. Once he pulled off, and simply to tease the other, just _breathed_ on him. This had almost caused Deidara to scream, and had entertained the puppeteer to no end.

But all good things must come to an end, and the Iwa nin saw white and yanked hard on Sasori's hair as he came into the red-head's mouth. Sasori swallowed and licked along the length to catch any left over as the blonde gasped for breath and frantically tried to recover from his climax, grip on hair loosening.

"Sasori," Deidara panted, closing his eyes.

The puppeteer looked up and pulled himself forward so that he was right above the blonde on the floor. "Yes?"

"Fuck," the blonde said faintly, eyes now open but half-lidded and watching rather dreamily. Though it was better than a dream. Dreams can't really surprise you that much.

Sasori's eyes gleamed. "And excellent plan," he said evilly. He was in a really good mood. So to begin, he started kissing the blonde over and over again, preventing the blonde from getting much more air. He figured it would make him more docile.

After a suitable length of time spent in heated kissing passed, the red-head broke it off and pushed several fingers into the blonde's waiting mouth. He closed on them at once, sucking on them to the point of where it was almost painful. His tongue caressed each digit, nearly making Sasori go over the edge.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he pulled them out and kissed the blonde instead. One hand grasped a pale hip as he slowly pushed in a finger. The tight ring of muscle clenched involuntarily, and he deepened the kiss in order to distract the blonde. It worked, and he added a second finger after waiting for the other to adjust.

Only after the blonde was fully prepped did he enter. He sheathed himself fully inside Deidara, making the blonde hiss and himself let out a strangled grunt. The heat enveloped him, tight, hot heat that felt _so good._ He would have, if he could've, just sat there and never did anything else. But the explosives expert wouldn't have been able to stand it, nor, he doubted, let him.

Deidara was beginning to sweat. He needed motion, badly, but Sasori wasn't moving. His breath became slightly ragged, and he groaned the Suna nin's name and tugged a handful of hair loosely.

"Sasori…"

One or both, Deidara wasn't sure which, seemed to bring the read-head out of his daze, and he smirked lopsidedly to the blonde, leaned down, and kissed him. He slowly pulled out, and pushed back in ferociously, jerking the blonde on the floor who grunted in response. Sasori, figuring that wasn't the spot, drew back out, angled himself a little to the left, and thrust in with the same amount of force.

Deidara screamed, arching with his head thrown back and grasping at the red-head's back as he hit the bundle of nerves deep inside him. Sasori grinned triumphantly, ignoring the pain as the blonde's fingernails scraped his skin.

Marking that on his "Map of Sensitive Spots on Deidara's Frickin' Hot Body," he thrust into it again, and this time the blonde screamed too, but it was softer now. He figured it had been a greater sensation difference, from pain to pleasure.

Sasori began a rough pace that started smooth enough, but became erratic as time went by. His aim was incredibly good through it all, though, and the Iwa nin's reactions had been both different and the same. Basically, he got a lot of enjoyment out of it. Eventually he had his own release, half-hissing half-gasping as he spilled into the blonde, and Deidara's second was not long in coming after it.

* * *

**A/n- Lemon scene over now. Your innocence had been safely preserved, we hope. Unless you never wanted to keep it in the first place. We will just say you missed great SasoDeiness :P**

* * *

Sasori could hardly support himself afterwards, so he dropped to the floor next to the blonde and drew him close, still breathing raggedly. He wrapped his arms around the naked blonde and held him tight, kissing the blonde's nose, forehead, and cheeks repeatedly, Deidara trying (but not succeeding well) to do the same for him as he hugged the red-head back.

Soon enough, their breathing returned to normal (though it took longer than it would have without the kissing, but that's irrelevant) and they simply lay there, Deidara feeling decidedly stiff.

"Say," Sasori said suddenly (2), breath warm on the blonde's ear. "We never did finish this whole get to know each other thing."

Deidara looked up at him. "So?" he prompted.

The red-head shrugged. "I dunno. What do you think we should do?"

The blonde thought this over. "Ummm… how about 'What's your favorite thing to do?'"

The two spent the rest of the time being locked up in the kitchen getting to know each other a lot better than the dry and brief spiel (we'll just pretend Deidara's was going to be this way) they had exchanged earlier and cleaning up the mess they'd made. During this time, both shared stories, both incredibly stupid and gloomily somber, traded childhood experiences (the blonde was rather slow on this one, since having a crazy parental unit kinda does that to you), and ruined several dish-drying cloths.

"So… how are we going to explain this to Itachi?" Deidara asked, holding up the pile of ruined dish-drying clothes.

"Er… why don't we just throw them in the trash and forget they ever got ruined?" Sasori suggested. "I'm pretty sure neither'll notice. It's not like they really use them anyway."

The blonde glanced at the cupboard full of less-than-clean dishes in it, and shrugged. "Okay then," he said, and dropped them in the trash. He looked at them suspiciously for a moment, and then buried them under more trash so as they would be less visible, and Itachi and Kisame would have less of a chance to find out.

"Yosh," Deidara muttered, and turned to Sasori, eyeing him with some firmness. "Now. What are we, exactly?"

Sasori waved a vague hand. "As in the whole relationship thing?..."

The blonde scowled slightly. "Yes."

The red-head shrugged. "Well, _I'd_ like us to be something. We'd probably last a lot longer than those damn girlfriends I had."

Deidara looked mystified. "How long did they last?" he asked, confused.

"A week."

The blonde considered this. The red-head briefly thought he looked rather cute when he was figuring something out. "I think we'll last longer than that."

Sasori looked happy. "That's good," he said cheerfully. Man, he sure was cheerful today. Must be because of the whole I-just-had-sex thing, which was really good might he add.

A tapping noise on the door made both jump. "Have you two become nice little buddies?" Kisame asked in an overly sweet way. A snicker was clearly heard, and Kisame sounded like he was about to burst into laughter any moment. The door slid open after the seal was pulled off, and Kisame and Itachi stood there, grinning broadly. Kisame was, at any rate. Itachi looked overly smug.

"Had fun in the bedroom?" Sasori parroted, using the shark teen's voice.

The Kiri nin looked incredibly smug at this point, and Itachi looked slightly embarrassed at the insinuation.

"Yep," Kisame replied. "We, er, _heard_ that you had the same. Except in here of course."

It was Deidara's turn to look embarrassed. Sasori looked incredibly proud.

"So are you going to work as partners?" Itachi asked, changing the subject.

The two looked at each other, and turned back to the other two. "We think so," Deidara said.

"Good. Rei-sama'll be pleased."

"Huzzah for him," Deidara muttered.

"Anyone up for a game of poker?" Kisame asked wickedly.

"Make it strip poker," Sasori said evilly, glancing suggestively at Deidara. A wok connected with his head in response.

"Remind me to stay on your good side," Kisame said to Deidara as Itachi started dealing the cards.

* * *

A/n- Whoo! (does little dance) Lemon scene done! I might write another for this story, but for now it's done… (starts spinning around)

(1)draw and quarter with wild horses- The ancient English practice of tying a person's hands and feet to four separate horses and making them gallop in four different directions until condemned person is killed either from the strain or from being brutally ripped apart by afore-mentioned horses. He'd then be cut into four equal pieces and displayed around the city in various locations. Not a pleasant way to die, but better than being hung by the neck until almost dead, cut down, stomach sliced open, balls chopped off, and hot coals piled on top of your intestines, as King James I did to various people he considered heretics. This is mainly how America gained the ever-famous Pilgrims.

(2)- Say this five times fast. I dare you.

Thanks again to all the kind people who review… you make my day, so do it often!

**Edit: Strip poker added by request!**


	5. The First Encounter

**Disclaimer:** STILL NOT MINE! Leave me alone!

**Warning:** Violence, references to sex, yaoi…

Shinigami- I like lemons too :D Yeah… Sasuke joined Orochimaru cuz he hates his brother and will do anything to annoy him… And I think it's more because he wanted recognition and his parents never paid attention to him that he was a rival to Itachi. Quite a few people think Orochimaru is a gay pedophile (I am one) because he wants Sasuke for his body in the canon… and that's just wrong… and also, all his subordinates are mainly young and hot guys.

Thanks to **Akume-chan**, **Hikari-Kurisu**, **Kyo-kun AND Hatsuharu are hot**, **Liebestern**, **Ujikofuda**, **Wing It**, and **kaja1234** for adding this to their favs list :P Not to mention **Columbiini**, **Dark Willow aka Admiral2**, **Garden of Everything**, **LambSam**, **Mr. Shishio**, **Sakura Shoizu**, **Tayuya-Kunai**, and **Windy Galux** for thinking this important enough to watch! And last, but not least, **Shinigami **for providing entertaining and uplifting reviews for nearly every chapter!

In the A/n below, I have a question for you guys, so make sure to read it! Also, I still need a beta reader, so please help me someone!

* * *

5. The First Encounter

"Hey Zabuza, did you here what Sasori and Deidara had to do on Saturday?" Naruto said cheerfully, sliding onto the bench next to the swordsman.

Zabuza glanced over at the grinning shinobi. "I have a feeling I really don't want to know," he commented to no one in particular.

"Sure?" Naruto asked deviously.

"I'd like to know, Naruto-kun," Haku said, leaning forward. "What where they doing on Saturday? I thought Sasori hated Deidara-san."

"Well, he _did,_" the blonde said evilly. "And since they were the only two in our group that weren't paired up-"

"What about Tobi, though?" Zabuza interrupted.

Naruto flapped a hand. "Last minute partner to Zetsu. No one else can stand him. Anyway, Rei-sama decided to have them do a counseling session."

"Which means?" Sakura said, sitting down. She looked interested, though it was probably more due to the fact that she wanted to oust her friend Ino the gossip queen from her position.

"That they were locked in the kitchen at Itachi's mansion placey-place. (1) They weren't allowed to come out until thy 'told their life stories to each other.' They ended up getting together and screwing on the floor."

Zabuza choked, as did Haku. Sakura made an "iglick" sort of sound, and looked disgusted.

"Did you have to say it that way?" she said, annoyed, while Haku started pounding Zabuza on the back.

"What?" Naruto said innocently. "It's true. They messed up the kitchen."

"What's true?" Itachi said.

"Sasori and Deidara go together and 'screwed on the floor,'" Sakura said as the two sat down.

"While you two were up in your room doing something," the blonde added mischievously.

"Like having sex," Sasori said from behind the genin, who jumped a foot in the air.

"Ah!" he yelped, and turned around, plastering a false grin on his face. "Er, Sasori-san, Deidara-san, what're you doing here?"

"Listening to you say we were screwing on the floor," Deidara said.

"Were you?" Sakura asked.

The two glanced at each other, and put on serious faces. "Hai!" they chorused.

Zabuza resumed choking with a passion. Haku started pounding him on the back again. No one paid any attention to them.

"What?" Sasori said, mimicking Naruto's innocent voice. "He's a good fuck."

"I resent to being called a 'good fuck,' " Deidara said primly.

"Why?" Kisame wanted to know. "I refer to Itachi like that all the time." Itachi blushed.

"Well, I do."

"Whatever."

"Bastard."

"Gaijin."

"Hey, no fighting in the cafeteria unless you're using actual weapons," Naruto chided.

Kisame and Deidara looked at him, then at each other. They tackled the blonde.

"Ah! Save me! Senseless pair of hooligans! Ah!"

"Shut up Naruto, you brought it on yourself," Sakura said disinterestedly.

"Evil women! …Please?"

"No."

Sasori took Kisame's vacated spot next to Itachi.

"So, Sasori-san, what else have you been doing this weekend?" Haku asked politely.

Sasori managed to keep his face straight as Itachi started laughing. "Screwing like rabbits at Itachi's."

This time Zabuza managed not to choke. He turned a funny purple color instead.

"Oh," Haku said faintly. Then, timidly, "All weekend?"

"All weekend," the red-head replied deviously.

Itachi nodded. "They had the guest bedroom," he said, face straight.

"…That's nice."

Sasori grinned. "Yes, it was," he replied. Zabuza bypassed purple and went to a strange blue color.

* * *

Kin looked through crack in the door. "That's them?" she said, voice disgusted. "They're idiots. We could destroy them, easy."

"Ah, Kin, do not overestimate our opponents," Dosu chided softly. "Do you see the black-haired guy by the red-haired one? He's Sasuke-kun's elder brother."

Zaku growled at the name of the younger Uchiha. "The bastard broke my arms," he snarled.

"Exactly," Dosu replied.

Kin was still watching the group of teens. "I'm pretty sure as long as we don't screw up like Zaku did, we could at least take out one or two of them- the blondie tackling the genin and the pink-haired girl look weak."

"If that's who you want to attack, then wait until after school," Dosu advised. "If we attack them now, we'll be overpowered by the whole group. It appears that they are strangely close, and will probably come to one another's aid if attacked within sight. And besides, if we get caught by a teacher-"

"Oh shove it, Dosu," Zaku snapped, incensed by Kin's remark. "We know we're supposed to wait until after school, we know not to take them on in front of each other, we aren't _that_ stupid!"

"Could've fooled me," Kin muttered.

"Enough," Dosu said sharply. "Kin, get in your disguise."

* * *

By then, Kisame and Deidara had bound and gagged the blonde genin and had propped him up against the table next to Zabuza, who had recovered from his choking fits.

They were all chatting again, Kisame by Itachi and Sasori protectively close to Deidara, when a strange girl came up to them wearing a Taki headband. She bowed to the group and addressed them.

"Konnichiwa! My name is Tsuchi Kin. I work for the school's newspaper, and we'd like to do a piece on school groups. Since you are the group made up of the most elite students, we'd like to do a little bit about you, maybe an interview?" she asked, smiling.

Everyone looked to Itachi who was, when Rei-sama not in sight, the head of the group. He looked around at everyone, then turned back to Kin. "Tsuchi-san, one moment please."

He then said in English- which pretty much everyone in the group knew because of Rei-sama's rules- and said, "Well?"

"Sounds like fun," Kisame said.

"It might be interesting," Sakura admitted.

"Sounds like a trap," Zabuza said bluntly.

"I agree with Zabuza-san," Haku added.

"Mph!" Naruto said.

Sasori tapped on the table in code. He didn't trust speaking out loud. _Trap,_ he said. _Reeks of a trap from Sound._

"I agree," Itachi said to no one in particular. He turned to Kin.

"Iie. Arigato for the honor, demo… iie."

Her face scrunched up in dismay. "But it would be so much more interesting if you allowed us to do an interview!"

Itachi briefly had the look of one who was rather irritated. "Gomen. Iie."

Inwardly Kin scowled. It looked like they'd have to ambush them after school.

* * *

"Damn," Dosu muttered under his breath.

"What?" Zaku asked.

"They refused. We'll have to ambush the two after school."

Zaku swore. "I have things to do!"

"You don't have to do anything Orochimaru doesn't say you do."

"So?"

"Whatever you have will not get in the way of ambushing this pair of kids."

* * *

"Meeting meeting meeting," Deidara chanted softly, almost skipping through the hall next to Sasori, who'd met him outside his Western Literature class at the end of the day.

"You're happy," Sasori commented.

Deidara glanced sidelong at his new boyfriend.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked. "I have someone special to me, a new friend, and things are looking up. Who wouldn't be happy?"

"Point." Deidara grinned as they neared the door to the classroom used as a meeting place. Itachi was, as usual, leaning against the wall next to the door. Kisame was standing in front of him, and they were in a conversation that didn't appear to be very interesting; Itachi's red eyes looked glazed.

"Konnichiwa!" the blonde said cheerfully to the two. Itachi looked up eagerly; Deidara concluded the conversation must have indeed been very dull.

The two chorused back the greeting as Naruto came around the corner arguing fiercely with the medic nin Sakura. "It works! Seriously! Watch!"

With that, he turned to the nearest male student, tapped him on the shoulder, and when the boy turned around, he made a few hand seals and turned into an extremely well-proportioned naked blonde girl. The other teen, who apparently was one of Deidara's classmates, stood for a moment with his jaw brushing the floor, and then was catapulted off his feet by an enormous nosebleed. He smashed into the wall with an expression of bliss on his face and was quickly knocked out by the force in which he collided with the wall.

Sakura looked rather defeated. The naked blonde turned to her, and poofed back into Naruto. "See?" he demanded. "I told you it works. You know Kakashi-san? I tried it on him and he passed out from the loss of blood."

"Oh," Sakura said dissapointedly. Then she turned stern again. "But still, it is a move hardly worthy of someone of your caliber-"

Naruto scowled again, made some more hand signs, and this time came up looking like a naked version of a younger Itachi with shorter hair and no face lines. This time Sakura (and pretty much every other girl in the hall as well as quite a few boys) had a massive nosebleed and fainted simultaneously.

Naruto changed back and said "HA!" loudly.

"Naruto, why did you turn into my brother?" Itachi asked, annoyed, as Sasori and Deidara reached the classroom door.

"Because for some reason the bastard has pretty much the entire female school population after him," he replied cheerfully as he came up. "And Sakura-chan is one of them."

Itachi looked unimpressed. Kisame, Deidara now noticed, looked rather dreamy eyed. Probably because that kid looked exactly like Itachi, he thought.

Rei-sama slid the door open and motioned for them to come inside. "How did the weekend go?" he asked Deidara, taking note of how he and the red-head didn't seem to be at odds.

"Great," Sasori replied cheerfully for him, and pulled him inside. All the blonde could do was flash a grin at the teacher as he was dragged past. Rei-sama looked rather amused.

As soon as the members were all assembled in the classroom, sticking close to their partners more from a sense of comradeship than actual want, he began.

"Well, we are at the time as ready as we can be for an attack from Oto. We have six pairs of partners, twelve members from various villages and various specialties. We can, at this time, take anything Orochimaru wishes to throw at us, though we still have a chance of being crushed if he goes for an all-out assault."

"He shouldn't," Itachi said practically. "It's a bit to dangerous, unless he does it when no one is on campus but us and him, which is unlikely."

"Or if we're somewhere that's nice and secluded, away from the main city," Sasori put in.

"And to help prevent him from destroying us one by one, I want all members to be in reach of another at all times," the teacher concluded.

"That's… workable," Deidara said slowly. He was in a ten kilometer radius from both Sasori and Itachi and Kisame. Ten kilometers was nothing if you were running at full speed with chakra-enhanced muscles.

"Yeah, my place is close enough to Naruto's," Sakura said, glancing at her partner.

"Mah, Sakura-chan, you'll turn into baa-chan now!" Naruto complained. She hit him with a chair.

Tobi cheered. "Yay, Zetsu-san, isn't it great you live next door?"

"So that's how he can tolerate him," Kisame muttered to Itachi, who snorted uncharacteristically.

* * *

Dosu put up a finger to his lips. He, Kin, and Zaku were listening outside of the window.

"…I want all members to be in reach of another at all times-"

"Crap!" hissed Zaku.

"Shut up!" Kin snarled. The boy fell silent.

A thunk was heard. "Yay, Zetsu-san, isn't it great you live next door?" Someone snorted.

"I say we go after the pink one first," Kin muttered to Dosu.

"She sounds easiest to take out," Zaku added.

"Alright. Scatter!"

* * *

Half an hour later, the meeting concluded. Members headed out, pausing every once in a while to chat, say goodbye, and split up. Naruto, Itachi, Deidara, Sasori, and Kisame all piled into Itachi's car, and Itachi dropped everyone off.

Sasori was the first to leave, kissing his boyfriend and then sliding out the door. Naruto went next, and Deidara was dropped off in front of his apartment complex. With that, Itachi and Kisame headed over to their place.

Sakura, on the other hand, was picked up by her mother right outside of school.

"Konnichiwa Okaa-san!" she chirped as she hopped into the back seat.

"Konnichiwa dear," her mother replied, smiling. "How was school today?"

"Oh, it was fine," Sakura said. "The meeting was over early. Nothing much new, except that the last two members are paired together now. That was a problem, since they used to hate each other."

"Really?" her mother asked. "How did they fix that?"

"Rei-sama conspired with Itachi-san and Kisame-san and got them to lock them in Itachi-san's kitchen." She was pretty sure her mother wouldn't want to know all of the in-depth details.

Her mother nodded. "Well, dear, I'm sorry but your father and I have a meeting and party to go to tonight. I'll be dropping you off and then leaving- we won't be back until around ten."

* * *

Alone in the house, Sakura got to work on her homework she had been assigned. She had gotten through her Literature essay and half of the math assignment before she registered several unknown presences behind her.

Instantly she jumped up, high, landed on the ceiling, and rolled to the other end of the room. She crouched in the corner and looked at her attackers.

The girl from lunch was there, as well as a boy with spiky dark brown hair was, and someone so covered in bandages and a straw raincoat that he or she was unrecognizable. All three wore a headband where an eighth note was proudly displayed.

Then Sakura noticed that each wall had a warding note stuck on, which prevented anyone on the inside from getting out. There also appeared to be a tag for any sound or stray chakra flares.

All this she took in in less than a second. She refocused on the shinobi; doubtless they were sent by Orochimaru. Since she was a medic nin, she could probably take them on, but her real purpose for Akatsuki was mainly to patch up anyone who got hurt badly enough that they needed immediate healing. That, and to possibly take on Kabuto with backup if the time came for a frontal assault.

But she wasn't sure about this… carefully, she tucked her bangs behind her ears as though to better he visibility and brushed the in-distress bug she had been supplied with by Rei-sama that she wore on the hoops in her ears. It sent an instant electronic wave to a similar one Naruto had with him, and would also be received by any others close enough in range.

"Lookee here," the spiky-haired boy called out. "An Akatsuki member who's all alone… that's not very safe, is it?"

The girl, Tsuchi Kin Sakura remembered, smirked. "As if she could _do_ anything."

The kid covered in bandages raised an arm with a curious piece of armor attached to it, angling it so that it was broadside to her position. "We should remedy that," was whispered, in a voice that clarified him as male. A flex of chakra swirled in the armor, sank into it, and exploded with force.

Sakura, still clinging to the ceiling, rolled aside just as it hit the spot where she had been previously. In a burst of speed, she pushed off from the ceiling, hit the opposite wall, and landed right behind the girl. She raised an arm, a chakra scalpel ready to cut into Kin.

The other boy caught her arm by the wrist and twisted sharply; to avoid too much damage, Sakura rolled with it, but was unprepared when he switched directions and hence snapped her wrist. She yanked out of his hold and flipped, one armed, back to the wall in another corner. The pink-haired girl cradled her wrist in a hand that glowed green with healing chakra.

As the bones were dragged back into place, she tried to buy time by talking. "Why do you want to get rid of Akatsuki?" she asked, gritting her teeth as pain radiated from her wrist.

The bandage kid laughed. "With you out of the way, there is no one to oppose us if we take over the other gangs," he said, sounding amused.

"Dosu, we shouldn't tell her anything," Kin warned the teen.

"Aw, shut up Kin! She's gonna die anyway!" the second boy said disgustedly.

Kin whirled around and hit him over the head. "You shut up Zaku!" she hissed.

"Stop. We're here to get rid of this girl. So get to work- formation inu!" Dosu, if that was his name, rapped out.

The other two snapped to attention. "Hai!"

With that, Kin and Zaku arranged themselves to Dosu's flanks, crouched, and jumped. They landed on the walls, about four hundred centimeters to Sakura's left and right. Dosu stayed in front of her.

Kin was the first to attack, throwing senbon needles with some bells attached at the medic. She dodged them, to hit thin and near-invisible wires attached to them. She flinched away, and Zaku took this moment to go into a stance where his hands were palm up at her. Chakra welled in his forearms; a blast of something shot out and struck Sakura.

She reeled back, her ears roaring, and lost control of her chakra. She slammed into Kin's wall and dropped to the floor. Dosu ran at her, and she had the presence of mind to raise a kunai in defense; apparently her aim was off, as she found out a moment later when something sharp and pointy buried itself deep in her shoulder, trapped in her clavicle (2). Something cracked painfully. She cried out involuntarily and dropped to her knees.

Someone took hold of her pride and joy- her brilliant pink hair- and twisted her head up. Sakura found herself staring at the girl.

"You were supposed to be _hard_," she said disgustedly. "And you call yourself a ninja? It looks like all _you_ do is wash your hair and condition it like some regular girl."

Dosu brutally ripped the kunai out of her shoulder, making sure to catch the delicate nerve point near her neck. She cried out again, and pain swamped her. Her mind was strangely unattached to her surroundings; she flexed her newly-healed wrist, and prepared to hit the girl in the neck with a chakra scalpel.

With a dull boom, the wall with her door exploded. Dust filled the room, and Sakura snapped up, wrenching her hair out of Kin's hold and whirled with scalpel outstretched. It slashed across the girl's windpipe, and blood splattered all over Sakura's clothes and the wall. The dying girl gasped, then choked, and tried to scream, but the only sound was the suction of flesh in frantic breathing and the gurgle of spraying blood.

Dosu was the next to fall, Naruto's infamous Rasengan catching him in the gut. He was utterly destroyed, nothing larger than a baseball remaining.

Zaku saw the whole thing. He gaped at an angry Naruto, who's eyes were red with slit pupils and blood covering his black (now red) Akatsuki cloak. He failed to notice the kunai knives and shuriken that Sakura threw at him, and a bulls-eye was made with a kunai between his astonished eyes.

Naruto was at Sakura's side in an instant, helping her to stand. He ripped off the dead Kin's sash and pressed it to her shoulder, staunching the flow of blood as she gasped in pain.

"Thanks," she managed to get out, before she collapsed onto her bed, leaning forward. She didn't have much chakra left- she didn't have many reserves- and determinedly healed the bone and the artery that had been struck. The rest Naruto bandaged up.

"I got your signal and hurried here," he was explaining to her as she wavered in and out of consciousness. She had lost quite a lot of blood.

"Pills," she whispered when she could focus her thoughts. "My bag… left pouch, blue… container. Bring… them."

He hurriedly dug in her bag and she swayed dangerously, unable to keep her balance. He caught her and held her steady, and she took the proffered box. She grabbed one, put it in her mouth, and chewed, swallowing. Soon she could see and focus her thoughts better as her blood supply replenished itself on the blood pills.

"We need to get you somewhere safe- or do you need to go to the hospital?" Naruto asked worriedly. His eyes were blue again, a distant part of Sakura's mind noted.

"As soon as I rest, I can heal myself," she said. "Somewhere safe… but I need to let my parents know-"

"I'll take care of that," Naruto assured her. "I'll take you over to Itachi's place- he and Kisame are some of the stronger members, and they have room to keep you."

Just then, there was the sound of a door opening. The two tensed as two people walked in, and relaxed when the familiar voice of Sakura's mother let out a slight scream and her father gasped at the wreckage it the hallway.

"Sakura!" the girl heard her mother cry worriedly.

"I'm fine!" she yelled, though it came out weaker than she thought. Her mother was in her room in no time flat.

"You're hurt!" she cried. "You need to go to the hospital- I need to call the police-"

"Um, Haruno-san," Naruto broke in swiftly, "it was a rival gang that did this- they're dead now- and I'm her partner, so I was going to take her over to some friends of ours, who can keep watch on her. Though, come to think of it, you and your husband should come too. You'll be safe there- we can't be sure if they won't come after you next- and I'll be there too…"

"Oh," he mother said faintly.

"Don't worry, 'kaa-san," Sakura said faintly. She suddenly felt drained and exhausted, as though she had been running at full speed for kilometers. "He's… right. We'll be safer… with Itachi-san and Kisame… san."

Naruto scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "Here's their address," he said quickly. "You have a car, right? You go ahead, I'll meet you there, but I'll stay to clean up this mess."

Her mother and father followed behind him as he lifted up his partner and carried her down the stairs- they were on the second floor- and to the car, only pausing to grab some clothes for tomorrow. He lay her down on the back seat, telling them to stick to the main streets and he'd probably find them somewhere along their route.

With that taken care of, he hurried back to Sakura's room and destroyed the bodies with a fire-jutsu taught to him by Itachi. He cleaned up the blood and left, locking the door behind him.

Naruto ran, jumping from light pole to light pole, and soon caught Sakura's scent (he had a great nose, thanks to the Kyuubi) in one of the cars. He landed lightly on top and gripped the rails as it took off. He sat there and rode it until they got to the Uchiha mansion.

The lights were off. Naruto wasn't surprised about this, but he slid off the top of the car and frightened Sakura's mother in the process. When she saw it was him, she looked incredibly relieved, and he picked up the now-unconscious Sakura and led them to the front door. He kicked it several times, until someone- probably Kisame- yelled "What?"

"Open up!" the blonde yelled back.

"Naruto?" A window opened and Itachi- chest bare and hair mussed- poked his head out.

"Who'd you think it was? Sakura got attacked. Now open the damn door!"

"Hang on then, bastard!" Itachi said, and disappeared.

A few minutes later, the door opened and the Uchiha stood there, yawning and clad only in a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips. He looked at Sakura, took in their bloodstained clothes as well as the Harunos, and let them in.

"What happened?" he asked tiredly, rubbing an eye.

Naruto shifted his partner's weight, and responded. "Oto nin. They came, slapped a warding on the walls, and attacked. She got hurt pretty bad, but she'll be alright."

Itachi looked slightly more awake at this point. "Okay… let me have her and I'll take her to a room. You follow me too," he told her parents. "Naruto, you can crash on the couch… but call Rei-sama. The number's by the phone- its labeled 'pizza.' Tell him what happened. He needs to know right now."

The blonde gently relinquished his hold on his partner to the Uchiha, who took her holding her easily (he was so much stronger than Naruto the blonde was envious) and turned, leading her parents along as well. They went down the hallway and disappeared.

Naruto headed into the kitchen and to the phone. He scanned the list of scribbled numbers, lifted the phone off the cradle, and dialed the number labeled "pizza."

"Moshi moshi," a familiar voice answered with only a trace of well-concealed sleepiness.

"Rei-sama? It's Naruto. Sakura-chan was attacked by some Oto nin- she killed two, and I took out the last one, and she got hurt. She's fine now, but Itachi said you should know."

"Ah… Naruto… yes, Itachi was right. Will Sakura-chan recover?"

"Yeah… she healed the worst of it, and she said that she'll heal the rest in the morning. We're over at Itachi and Kisame's place, and her parents are here too," Naruto told him.

"Okay… that's fine. Keep on guard for anything suspicious, okay? We'll talk more tomorrow… That's all."

"Hai," the blonde replied dutifully. The teacher hung up.

Naruto sighed, yawned, and stretched. He needed sleep. He headed into the living room and lay down on the couch. He fell asleep almost instantly, not even waking up when Itachi came back through to go up to his room. The black-haired nin glanced at him and headed up back to his and Kisame's room.

"What was that about?" Kisame asked sleepily as Itachi got back under the sheets.

The Uchiha yawned. He was usually asleep before now. "You'll find out in the morning," he said, voice tired. He curled up to the larger teen. "Go back to sleep."

* * *

A/n- Sorry, this took longer, and there's not as much SasoDeiness in here… but there will be in the next chapter, so don't worry!

The question for all you guys is **why do you like this story?** I seem to have a lot of other people from different countries reading this- if you review, please say which country you are from and why you like this story!

(1)- My sister says this all the time. I had to put it in here.

(2)- A clavicle is your collarbone. It's the medical jargon word.

A chakra scalpel is what Kabuto uses in his fight against Tsunade.


	6. Things Heat Up

**Disclaimer: **Seriously… not mine. The idea is though. It came from my head :D

**Warning:** Mentions of sex, child abuse, etc. Shonen ai, SasoDei and KisaIta.

Shinigami- I'm not sure. Who do you think he should be paired up with? I wasn't going to in the beginning, but if you want boy/boy, I'm leaning towards NaruSasu because it's pretty good… and easy to write, since there probably won't be much of it. Yes… KisaIta and SasoDei is good stuff XD Too hard to find though :(

**Hang on guys! **Before you read this chapter, you should know that I am uploading edited and revised chapters of the five ones previous to now. So go and read them over because in the last chapter I added more fluff between Itachi and Kisame, and because I revamped some chapters more than others, so you might get a little confused at what's going on in here. An example would be that I have changed Kisame from being full-Japanese to half-Russian (yay Russia!), so don't get too confused when you read this!

* * *

6. Things Heat Up

The attack on Sakura left everyone in Akatsuki on high alert. Members stayed in pairs as much as humanely possible between classes and during free time- those in the same villages practiced together during the morning training sessions. When they were not in pairs or groups, and sometimes when they were, they had warning jutsus tied to an area of about four hundred centimeters around them, extending both into the air and to the ground- there were quite a few earth elemental specialists in Orochimaru's forces.

At the same time, Itachi and Sasori had started wearing their cloaks during school hours, partly as a measure of defiance against Orochimaru, clearly stating that they weren't going to let him just roll over them without a fight. Naruto, Deidara, and Kisame started doing the same, and soon Hidan, his partner Kakuzu, Sakura, Haku, and Zabuza began as well. Tobi followed the others' example, proclaiming it was "cool." Zetsu alone did not wear his uniform, and he explained apologetically that his position as both scout and spy forbade him to stand out so flagrantly.

For by now all the students had a pretty good idea that there was going to be a clash sooner or later. Oto's members were a varied group from every village in the school, and many were well-liked in their respective villages. Others had heard from friends of friends or relations of friends and sometimes acquaintances that the secret gang of Oto with its head Orochimaru-sensei was at odds with the elite group of Akatsuki headed by the slightly wacky Rei-sensei.

Strangely enough, though most villages were more on the side of Oto, Konoha remained steadfast in their loyalty to Akatsuki and had only a very minimal group of nin defect to the sennin's leadership (meaning basically Sasuke and a few of the weaker-willed members). While many Akatsuki members, including Sasori whose home village of Suna was currently allied with the underground faction, weren't necessarily guaranteed safety in the earlier part of the day, they found that Konoha nin would set aside previous differences and oftentimes welcomed recognized members of Akatsuki whole-heartedly. Maybe it had to do with the fact that four of the twelve were Konoha nin by origin, and most were well-liked- Naruto and Sakura were pretty close with their genin class, and Itachi was greatly respected if anything. Or maybe because of the fact that two of the greater teachers, Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya (fondly called Ero-sennin by Naruto), for the village despised Orochimaru, and had thus passed on their dislike to their many students. There was also the fact that Orochimaru once was a Konoha nin in his school years, and he'd apparently turned missing nin (defected to another village) in his jounin year.

A week went by as tension in the halls increased considerably.

* * *

Sasori and Deidara had gone over to the Uchiha mansion for a "studying" session after school one day a week later, which pretty much translated to having multiple make-out sessions and sex in the guest bedroom. Deidara had called his father to inform him of what he was doing- "it's a studying session for my homework"- and that he'd be home late, partly on instinct and partly because Sasori put him up to it.

"I don't want you to get something broken again, and I don't think you do either koi," Sasori had told him sternly. "With school the way it is, you need to be in top condition in case you get attacked like Sakura."

He'd given in, and he was now currently engaged in an after-sex make-out session with his incredibly hot boyfriend, who was taking great care to kiss every part of him reachable while he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed and trying to actually get some work done, but he kept getting distracted because Sasori had memorized every sensitive spot on his body, and was taking great pains to send him to the place of intense pleasure that he usually ended up in.

He managed to get a few problems worked out when the red-head wrapped his arms around the blonde's bare chest and latched on to his neck, thoroughly marking the artist as his. Since he hadn't started sucking a particularly sensitive area, Deidara could actually concentrate, and he made the most of it. His father would be rather suspicious of him returning from a study session for homework with no homework done.

"Hey Sasori," he said abruptly as the thought came to him. "What're you planning on doing when you get out of Tokyo Cultural?"

The puppeteer stopped sucking on his neck and raised his head, looking thoughtful. Deidara felt his warm breath on his ear. He shivered.

"Well…" the red-head began. "I was planning on going to the theatre with my puppets. But now…"

"Now what?" his boyfriend prompted.

"I dunno. It depends on whether you go back to America with your father or not when the time comes, or if you go to a university here," Sasori finished slowly.

The blonde froze, blood turning to ice. He'd forgotten that his father was a diplomat- he'd been actually living a life more here than in the states- and the thought of leaving everything he'd gained in the past few months was so awful his mind couldn't focus on anything else except the thought, which, of course, only made it worse. A swirling vortex seemed to have taken residence in his stomach.

Sasori, with Deidara in an embrace, could tell instantly that something was wrong. He frowned and shifted so he could lean over the Iwa nin's shoulder enough to get a clear view of his face, but when his boyfriend dropped the pencil he'd been using to figure out his math homework and didn't fumble for it immediately, he knew it was pretty bad- the artist had very sharp reflexes. He twisted Deidara around, noting his face was whiter than the sheet they were currently on, and the other teen seemed to calm down when he pulled him down back onto the bed to lie next to him in his arms. To try to get rid of the rest of whatever was so obviously terrifying the blonde, Sasori started talking about whatever came to mind until the tension had completely left the artist and the color came back into his face.

"What was that about?" he said softly after a while.

Deidara shuddered in his hold. "Nothing," came the muffled reply as the blonde snuggled closer, burying his face in the red-head's chest.

Sasori sighed, but changed the subject. "Are you going to get some more work done?"

"…later."

* * *

Winter break was coming up the week after next. Quite a few people were looking forward to it and the Winter Festival that was on the last day of the old year. School dragged on interminably, and the tension existing in the halls almost disappeared at the mutual desire to get out of school. True to form, the teachers piled on all the work they could.

"Can you believe this?" Kisame ranted, hoisting up a stack of three books and five binders stuffed with papers as they headed to lunch. "We have more to do in these next two weeks than all the rest of the year together!"

Deidara glared at him, half bowed under the weight of his schoolwork. Being the shortest (besides Naruto), he was able to carry the least amount and was truly suffering at the size of his work. "Be quite," he snapped rather irritably. "You're twice the size of any of us except for Zabuza and you can carry three times that weight without breaking a sweat."

"So?" Kisame said, annoyed. "Do you want me to carry Itachi's work, too?"

"That would be nice," Itachi admitted. He was only a few centimeters taller than the blonde.

Sasori joined them and saw Deidara's plight. "Put it all in your bag and I'll carry it for you," he said. He was seven centimeters taller than the blonde, about three higher than Itachi.

The Iwa nin looked at him. "Are you sure you can carry it all with yours?" he asked.

"No…" Sasori said with the impatience of someone waiting for someone else to finally get it right. "Hiruko will. He's already carrying mine anyway."

The other three glanced at the ceiling. Indeed, Sasori's favorite weapon of choice (1) - er, puppet- was walking on the ceiling in order not to create even more mayhem in the halls as there already was. It looked steadily down at them.

The puppeteer twiddled his fingers in a roundabout pattern, and the puppet dropped to the floor in the circle they made as they scrambled out of the way in order not to get squashed.

A compartment in the puppet's back popped open, and Sasori stowed Deidara's work in there along with his own and Itachi's.

"What? Not mine?" Kisame said, holding out his stack.

"You can carry it easily," Sasori replied.

"But-"

"Oh come on, Kisame, leave it," Itachi said impatiently as they neared the cafeteria. School food was pretty good here- for school food. And they were all hungry.

Once inside the large room, they spotted a table dotted with red and black as several Akatsuki members waved to them. The newcomers went over to their table without hesitation, and left their stuff (in Kisame's case) with them as they headed to the line for food.

Sitting down with their gang mates and carrying their meals, Kisame high-fived Naruto and said, "Did you see the look on that loser's face when we sprung that trap on him at break today?"

Naruto chortled. "Hell yeah," he said gleefully. "It was so funny. I wish I'd had a camera!"

"So boys," Takikko said to the others, ignoring the two ninjas' exchange. "We're taking bets. How much longer until the real fighting starts, do you think?"

"Or better yet, when do you think Sasuke-kun leaves that pedophile?" Yuri chimed evilly. She and Takikko broke out in laughter.

"What's so great about him?" Naruto said peevishly, previous good humor gone.

The two girls exchanged glances. "He's hot," Yuri said worshipfully, eyes glazing as she started dreaming.

"And so adorable!" Takikko added, with the same look.

Itachi sniffed audibly as the kunoichi started drooling, eyes starry. Naruto made a disgusted sound, and Kisame went "Guh. No he isn't."

"Didn't stop you from looking like you'd just gotten a promised night of Itachi," Sasori reminded him drily as Deidara snickered.

"Well, you're not exactly Mister Icy Virginal Prince (2) either!" Kisame growled back.

Sasori stretched languorously in his seat. "But _I_, my dear fellow, don't look lustfully upon another. _I_ stay faithful to my paramour." He sniffed with a noble air, which Deidara ruined for him by pushing him off the end of the bench.

"Got you there," Naruto said, grinning as the shark-like teen made a face.

Itachi turned to the pink-haired kunoichi sitting next to the spiky-haired blonde. "Sakura-chan, how are you doing?"

Sakura smiled tiredly. She was fully recovered from the fight, though a lingering slowness and pronounced sensitivity in her left shoulder remained as reminders of the close call. "I'm fine Itachi-san," she replied. "Arigato."

"I wonder what they'll throw at us next?" Deidara wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Hidan shrugged. "I think we have another week or two, they'll probably want to attack while we're on winter break or something."

"Wouldn't it suck if they ambushed us all at the Winter Festival?" Kakuzu said thoughtfully.

"Oh, hell yeah," Naruto said, annoyed. "I want to go to it, it's so much fun."

"Who else is going?" Kisame asked the table. Nearly every hand went up.

"You're not going?" Sasori asked Deidara.

"I haven't asked Tou-san yet," he replied. "I can probably go though, if I manage to pull of incredibly good grades and not have anything bad happen to me like detention or something."

"Okay. Hey, you think maybe we could spend the night over at Itachi's house? Make it like a huge boys' night out or something?" the red-head said.

"He might go for that," the blonde admitted.

"Hey Itachi! Wanna screw around at the festival and crash at your house later?" Sasori said to the Uchiha across from him.

"Sounds like fun. Sure, if you don't make too much noise where ever you end up sleeping," Itachi said back.

"Hey! What about me?" Naruto yelped.

"As long as you don't mind sleeping alone," Deidara said, grinning.

"Sakura can come with us," Takikko added, pulling the pink-haired girl along the bench to make a corner of three girls with her in the middle.

"We'll have so much fun!" squealed Yuri. Sakura smiled happily, and the three started chatting over what they were going to wear.

"Cheers," Kisame said gloomily to Sasori. It probably had more to do with the fact that he was sitting right next to the kunoichi than anything else.

"Well," Deidara said. "We still have this week's furious struggle for studying, and then finals week."

"I'm so gonna screw up," Naruto moaned, banging his head on the table, causing the trays to jump several times before Kisame kicked him hard enough to stop him.

The next week of "furious struggle for studying" turned out to be frustrating for the two teens. Deidara's father decided that he needed to keep a close watch on his son's studying with the big final exams coming up next week, and thus did not allow him to go anywhere after school except to the store when they ran out of milk. Which meant no more "study" sessions or after-school making-out, since Deidara took the subway trains to his home, and only one actually left after school ended.

And all through exams, held in their homerooms, they furiously underwent exhausting tests that left all tired and lethargic. Rei-sama had thoughtfully not scheduled any meetings, knowing that they'd all be too tired to do anything but go home and just manage to cram in more facts for the next day's finals before dinner and then pass out afterwards.

And _then_… they were free. When the bell rang to signal the end of the school day on Friday, everyone cheered and stampeded throughout the halls, trampling everything underfoot. Later that night, everyone in Akatsuki met at Itachi's mansion, where the Uchiha and his boyfriend threw an end-of-the-exams party. Pizza, a popular Italian food, and more traditional take-out from the better restaurants in the area was served, along with a lot of illegal (they _were_ underage) sake was served. Some of the better highlights of the evening, in Deidara and Sasori's opinions, where when Hidan had called for more pizza but ended up getting Rei-sama, who yelled at him for a bit for being too drunk to notice that he was _not_ the pizza guy, and when they took out all the sexual frustration they'd accumulated during the week and worked it off in the now-familiar guest-bedroom.

After a few days of total laziness spent loafing around at Itachi's house, Deidara finally managed to leave Sasori's clutches and get into the kitchen for some food, the room he'd just left echoing with the puppeteer's angry protests through a gag, as the blonde had had to physically restrain him from jumping on him before he got out of the door, or keeping him from leaving with that evil chakra-string technique he used on his puppets.

He met Itachi in the kitchen. The black-haired nin seemed to be brewing some tea, and he cheerfully handed the half-naked artist a cup, which he sipped gratefully. Sasori didn't need much when it came to food, but _he_ was an _American_, from the land of the hungry and overly fat. While he wasn't overly fat, he was still hungry.

Itachi gestured to his bare chest. "Sasori being overly protective?" he asked, grinning.

Deidara glanced down, already knowing he looked like he'd just been screwed over repeatedly. Which he had been, but that wasn't the point.

"Yep," he replied, and took a long drink from the cup. He leaned comfortably against the counter- already Itachi and Kisame's place was more like home to him than the apartment he stayed in with his dad. Itachi made really good tea, he thought as he took another drink.

Kisame came in. "You should see what _he_ looks like when I'm done," he said, sounding proud. He looked his boyfriend over, grinned, and started whistling as he rummaged in the refrigerator.

"From the way Sasori acts, I wonder how you got away from him," Itachi remarked as though he'd not heard Kisame's earlier comment. "He can be rather… stubborn."

"Well he _was_," Deidara agreed. "But using the sheets as restraints worked better than I thought. I really have to remember that for future use."

Kisame started laughing and Itachi spit the mouthful of tea he'd had out onto the counter. The blonde nin smiled cheerfully.

The door slid open with a bang, and the person standing there instantly shattered Deidara's mood. Especially since said person had no reason for being here. He felt the smile slide off his face faster than previously thought possible and the room temperature seemed to go ice-cold.

He'd never thought that of all places to see someone unwanted, his _father_ would be _here._ And he was most definitely dead. His father had on a look of intense disgust, and wasn't bothering to hide it, and Deidara was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he was in someone's kitchen without a shirt on, and so obviously marked with hair down and messed.

Did he mention he _never_ let his hair down? Except to wash it?

So he froze, held in one spot by both mindless fear and paralyzing dread, unaware that the blood had drained out of his face and he looked like he'd seen a ghost. The cup of tea dropped out of his grasp, shattering on the floor.

"Deidara." He'd never heard his father's voice so cold. "What are you doing?"

The blonde's mouth opened and worked like he was trying to speak, but he seemed to be voiceless. Kisame looked confused back and forth between the two, more surprised about the man suddenly appearing to do anything. Itachi, remembering something Sasori had briefly mentioned to him alone and sensing something dangerous in the air, attempted to do something about it.

"Er… Taiga-san? Were you at our door…" He trailed off.

"Deidara. Put on a shirt now. We are leaving," Taiga said, coolly ignoring the Uchiha, and turned to leave.

Deidara knew he should obey. Really. But something in his mind asked, do you really want to? He's just going to beat you, and probably get you hospitalized. Again. And this one was bound to be painful.

So he stayed put, gulped, and said, "No."

His father stopped. He faced the teen.

"Excuse me?" he asked softly, eyes glittering dangerously. "I could swear you did not just defy me."

"He just did," someone said from behind him. Sasori stood in the doorway, completely dressed and looking coldly furious.

"I do not think I asked you for an answer," Deidara's father said coldly, looking at the red-head, matching him glare for glare. "And who are you anyway?"

The puppeteer leaned casually in the doorway, not backing down. "His boyfriend. Who, pray tell, are _you_?"

The taller man's eyes narrowed dangerously. He glanced at his son and then back at Sasori. "Really. Well. My _son_ and I have business to do."

"No, he doesn't," Itachi said, surprising both of them. "As you have no business in _my_ house. Leave now, please."

Deidara's father looked surprised, and then his manner turned arrogant. "As if you could order me around. I am an ambassador in the American Embassy- not a Japanese citizen."

Itachi frowned, but the man had a point- even his family's collected favors couldn't keep America from getting mad at them for detaining one of their envoys. He signaled Kisame to get a hold on Sasori, or he'd probably try to kill the man or himself when he implemented the plan he'd just formulated in response- he wasn't Konoha's best strategist for nothing. The tall half-Russian teen carefully set himself up behind the puppeteer, who was still glaring at Taiga.

"Very well," he said slowly, and caught Deidara's eye. The blonde looked horrified at the implied betrayal, and the Uchiha hand-signed to do it. The Iwa nin looked confused, but something in Itachi's manner told him to wait. He followed his father out of the room.

"What the fuck?" Sasori snarled as soon as they had left, and struggled in Kisame's grip as he tried to get at Itachi. "Why the hell'd you let him do that? He's gonna fucking kill him!"

"Be quiet Sasori," Itachi said coolly, tomoe whirling dangerously as he rummaged in a drawer under the telephone. "I know American laws- you forget that a few of my family were ambassadors as well. What his father does constitutes as child abuse, which is illegal in their country. And since my family were ambassadors-" he held up a very old-looking scrap of paper with a number on it. "-I have the American Embassy's number." His smile was razor-sharp. "We're going to get him out of his father's hands."

* * *

The phone rang. Michael Travers, the phone operator at the American Embassy looked at it in surprise. Very few people had the number to that particular phone, a few very trusted people, besides the White House and the CIA. He picked it up.

"Hello?" he asked.

A crisp voice with a light Japanese accent answered. "Is John Conners there?"

Now Michael was confused. "No, I'm sorry, he's retired- two years ago, in fact. Are you a friend of his?"

"Ah. Please excuse me, I haven't introduced myself," the person on the other end said apologetically. "My name is Uchiha Itachi- my cousin was Uchiha Obito…"

Travers nearly fell over in shock. A member of the most influential- well, they were once- family in Japan was calling. This was big- since the Uchiha family had favors owed them from pretty much all of the government, if the few remaining members wanted to gain power, they could probably take over Japan. Uchiha Obito in particular had been a well-liked member of the Japanese envoys.

"Ah, yes sir," he said hastily. "As I said, Mr. Conners isn't here anymore, but I could pass on the message to anyone else."

"Actually, I have a question. Are all your American ambassadors subject to your country's laws here?" Itachi asked.

"Uhh… yes. Yes, they are. Why?"

"Do you know James Taiga? I believe he is a very powerful ambassador for you," the other continued calmly. "He has a son who is a friend to me- he attends Tokyo Cultural with me and my friends. We have reason to believe that his father abuses him- I think the term is child abuse? Deidara- Taiga's son- was over at my house, but his father came a few minutes ago, and he looked very angry. We are afraid he might do something harmful…"

Michael reeled in his chair. "Child abuse?" he said, shocked. Such a charge could ruin Taiga's political and international reputation- not many countries tolerated such a thing. "But- that's not-"

"It is very possible. His arm was broken a few months ago, and he has come to school on more than one occasion with mysterious injuries."

Travers found his voice. "…ah. I see. I'll… call the police in. Do you have his address?"

"Yes."

* * *

His father had remained silent the entire time during the ride home. Deidara was nearly faint with fear- the look he'd see from his father had promised something much more painful than a broken arm. He really didn't want to find out what it would be. He could almost feel the murderous intent emanating from the larger man.

They arrived at the apartment. Silently, the blonde followed his father inside the building, dread growing with every step he took further away from the street and towards his home.

But when they'd gotten to the fifth floor, the sight of a ring of police outside their apartment door greeted them. And not any police. These were American Embassy police.

Holy shit, Deidara thought faintly. Itachi, what did you _do_?

The nearest uniformed man conversed with the man next to him, then turned to his father. "Are you James Taiga?"

Deidara's father looked uneasily at him. "Yes," he said guardedly. Something in the air had put him on edge, and Deidara was pretty sure he knew what it was.

"We're here to ask you some questions," the policeman said. "Someone from a very influential family called to tell us that he had reason to suspect that your son was being abused. Do you know anything about this?"

"No," his father replied stiffly. "I do not beat my son."

The guard ignored this and turned to Deidara. "Have you ever been beaten?" he asked.

His father turned to him, glaring. The threat was clear enough. Deidara looked at him nervously and moved away, as far as he could. He didn't answer, but looked at the man pleadingly.

The police officer looked back and forth between them, and seemed to understand his plight. "He can't hurt you with us around," he told the blonde.

Still torn by indecision, Deidara stayed silent, biting his lip. He knew this was his chance, but defying someone you were so used to obeying was frightening.

"I do not!" the artist's father protested heatedly in response to the officer's question.

"..shut up."

His father looked shocked at his order. Deidara stood up straight. "Yes he does. He's been doing it for eight years."

"Why you- little bastard!" his father snarled, and leaped at him, slamming him against the wall with hands around his throat. Deidara's head cracked painfully against the door jamb of room thirteen before the officers got between them and wrestled his father away from him and got him on the floor. He swayed unsteadily- he couldn't seem to focus on anything very well. And his neck felt like it was on fire.

The first policeman came over to him. "Sorry about that, we didn't think he'd attack you like that. We're going to take you both to the Embassy," he explained kindly. He stopped, and frowned when he saw that the boy couldn't see to focus on him. "Are you okay?" he said.

Deidara blinked. "Yeah," he said slowly through a raw throat, coughing as it irritated the bruises forming. "Yeah, I'm… fine."

* * *

Itachi, Kisame, and most of all Sasori walked in to the building that was supposedly the American Embassy. Two uniformed men met them in the foyer.

"Uchiha Itachi?" one of them asked courteously.

"That would be me," Itachi said coolly in English. He doubted they could speak that much Japanese.

"We have been asked to escort you to your friend Taiga Deidara," the other officer said. "Please follow us."

Sasori was being incredibly patient for someone as overly protective as he was. He had sat through Itachi's explanation of his plan and stayed collected and quiet in the car. He didn't even race out into the building when they had arrived. But now, when he was so close to Deidara, his coolness was starting to crack. He hurried impatiently after the two guards as they led them through several rooms into one where they saw their friend on a chair.

Deidara stood up abruptly as Sasori walked in through the door and rushed to him, the puppeteer pulling him into a tight embrace against his reassuringly solid chest. He wrapped his arms around the red-head and finally relaxed.

Itachi was speaking to the officer who'd been watching the blonde.

"What is going to happen?" he asked the man.

"It depends. Your friend Deidara will probably be taken and placed in a foster-care system back in the states, unless a family member can be found to take care of him," the officer said.

Itachi and Kisame exchanged glances. Deidara going back to the US wasn't what they wanted. Fortunately, Itachi had an idea.

"We live together in a very large place," Itachi said, motioning to Kisame. "Is it possible that he could stay with us? He is only a few months away from legally being an adult in your country anyway, and we can get him a Japanese citizenship. My family was well-known with the government here, so it wouldn't be too much trouble to do so."

"I'm not sure," the officer said apologetically. "It is possible, but you'll have to speak to the senior government official here in order for anything to go through." He glanced over to the blonde and the red-head. "It would probably be better if he stayed here," he admitted.

Itachi agreed. "May we speak to this government official?" he asked.

The officer nodded. "This way please."

* * *

"What's going to happen now?" Sasori asked his boyfriend, fingering the bruises on the other's throat and frowning.

"I'm not sure," the blonde replied quietly, voice rough. "They haven't really told me anything, but I'm afraid I might have to go back to the states…"

The red-head's grip on the other tightened. His expression turned fierce. "No," he said softly. "I won't let them. Neither will Itachi or Kisame."

Deidara peered around his boyfriend curiously. "Where are they, anyway?"

Sasori let go of him and turned around, looking for the two. "I don't know. They were here a minute ago."

At that moment, the door opened and a very official-looking man came in, followed by the two teens in question.

"Deidara Taiga?" the man asked the blonde.

Deidara blinked. After the months in Japan, he wasn't used to being addressed by his first name, so it was a few moments before he figured out that the man was indeed talking to him.

"Er- yes?" he said.

"I am Mathew Perry, the highest-ranking government official here at the time being," the man explained. "At this point in time, you have several options open to you. You should know thought that your father is not allowed to come closer than five hundred yards to you- he has a restraining order as of this time valid in all countries with an American Embassy. He is also charged with both child abuse and assault.

"However, what you shall do now that you can no longer live with him is up to you. The legal way in our country is for you to go either to your closest relation or be put into the foster-home system. However, you are only four months from being officially recognized as an adult in the US, and as such, there is another course you can take." Perry gestured to Itachi and Kisame. "These two tell me that you can live with them for the next few months until you are an adult and able to apply for citizenship here in Japan. Your ambassadorial visa will be kept instated and will cover that amount of time (3), so that you will not be an illegal immigrant. However, it is all up to you."

Deidara looked over at Itachi, and then back at the man. "I think I'll stay," he said, surprised at the options. Much as he'd hoped, he hadn't really thought it possible.

The man nodded and smiled wryly. "Not the choice I would have taken, but so much the better for you," he said. "It's been nice talking to you."

He shook hands with the blonde, and turned to the two guards still in the room. "Please escort these people to their homes," he ordered in English. The men saluted, and the official left.

Deidara turned to Itachi, looking worshipful. He jumped on the black-haired teen and hugged him hard. "Sankyuu!" he said, laughing as he threw the taller off-balance, causing both Kisame and Sasori to crack up laughing. After the drama of the evening, it felt great.

* * *

A/n- Yay! That's got his dad out of the picture so I can have more fun :D

**I need help :P** Shinigami has asked for Naruto to be paired up, so does anyone want to suggest pairings? I'm leaning towards NaruSasu (because in the case of NaruGaa I'd have to pull him into Akatsuki and that would make the ranks a bit uneven), and I suppose NaruSaku would be okay, but I'm not good at writing straight pairings :D Please make suggestions!

(1) weapon of choice- Okay, this is hilarious and I absolutely recommend it. Go to Youtube dot com and type "Christopher Walken Weapon of Choice" into the search bar- it's really funny! I couldn't help myself :D

(2) Mister Icy Virginal Prince- I got this from Self-Reliance by Imbrium Iridum.

(3)- Visas to Japan normally only cover three months, so if you're a teacher or something, you have to go over into Thailand or somewhere else every few months so you can stay and not be an illegal immigrant.

**Countries!** The answers I received from my question made me very happy :D I have readers from all over the world! **6** from **America** (not surprised), **1** from **Germany** (hurray for the Germans! I wanted you guys to win the World Cup.), **2 **from **Sweden**, **1** from **Canada**, and **1** all the way from **Singapore**! And numerous others who didn't review, but that's okay :P

So now I ask you: What's you least favorite thing about your country? Corruption? It's boring? There's nothing to do?


	7. Festival

**Disclaimer:** Do I really need to do this for you?

…I do?

…Damn you. I don't own, blah blah blah… I wish Tobi was dead, blah blah blah… I like D.Gray Man.

**Warning:** M/M, shonen ai, yaoi, whatever you call it… and a LEMON! WHOO! SasoDei and KisaIta.

Shinigami- Hmm… I wasn't planning on making him the uke because those're the last three letters of his name, but more because, y'know, Naruto is all better and all that. Not that I have anything against Uke!Naruto.

Yes! He is finally out of the picture! I don't know how they'll get Sasuke away from Mister I'm-A-Gay-Perverted-Pedophile yet, but when I do I'll… write it out in the chapter it's in :D

I don't really think we can judge Itachi just yet, because we still don't completely know his motives in the whole U.M. Besides… I like him :P He's so awesome.

**Yay for all reviews! **I got like, fifteen on that last chapter :D That's the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter in two weeks :D

* * *

7. Festival 

The Winter Festival is a place for romance, fun, games and wondrous shows of skill. The wide variety of vendors with hot just-cooked food and warm drinks as well as game booths with great prizes appeal to all ages and genders, promising a long night of great entertainment capped off by the huge fireworks show afterwards.

Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and Naruto had all planned to go together, and possibly meet up with one of Naruto's non-Akatsuki friends, a Suna nin that Sasori knew- Temari's younger brother Gaara. Sasori and Naruto were going to meet up with the residents of Itachi's house at the mansion, and head off from there in a group- the festival grounds were only a few streets away, so it would be pointless and a waste of time driving. Everyone was getting dressed up in their best kimono for the evening.

Deidara, not having any kimono himself, had to go shopping for his, whereas both Itachi and Kisame already had theirs from previous years. Itachi, claiming to follow the American custom for Christmas gift-giving (despite the fact he was atheist), dragged Deidara out to a store and bought him one. He argued that he had far more money than he'd ever need, so why not get the blonde something nice?

The artist had to admit, Itachi had really good taste in clothes as he pulled it out from the bag to get ready for the festival. The kimono was made of a silk-like fabric with varying shades of blue-green colors, thick enough so that it would keep him warm in the cold weather, with long, trailing sleeves and a light, cream-colored overcoat with a sash matching the kimono's color as a royal blue around his waist. His personal favorite part was on the back of the jacket- a brilliant blue bird with a long, feathery tail that twisted around to the bottom. He had taken a shower and let his hair dry down, and didn't put it up in its normal ponytail. He was actually quite amazed at how long it was- it came down past his shoulder blades, thick and slightly waved. (A/n- -has nosebleed-)

He wore an old pair of cool-looking boots he'd found in his possession from back when he was in LA, and since they still fit him, he decided to use them that night. Also, into the sash he was careful to hide several kunai and shuriken. He had several senbon needles strapped to his forearms if he needed anything else.

Deciding he was done, he glanced at his image in the mirror on the wall and left the room, figuring Kisame would be in the kitchen trying to eat something before they left. Excitement was building up inside- he could hardly wait to get going. He and the rest of the group were planning on wandering around the festival together and then meeting up with the rest of the Akatsuki members in a barbeque restaurant in the middle of the grounds, then head up to a good place to watch the fireworks show.

He did meet the two teens in the kitchen- but they were making out instead of eating anything. It looked like Kisame might have been trying to get some food (judging from the open refrigerator door behind them), but Itachi stopped him. Or Kisame just liked to make out with his boyfriend in front of an open fridge.

Kisame was in a deep, almost navy-blue kimono the exact shade of his hair with a grey overcoat that was secured by a black obi. Tiny black printing on the overcoat gave it the appearance of small scales, further enhancing his overall sharkish look. His hair was spiky as always, but it was minus the large helmet-like thing that he had his headband up in. It made him look less like some crazy football player and more like a normal- well, as normal as he could ever be- teenager.

Itachi, in an unusual deviation from his normally all-black attire, wore a brilliant ruby-red kimono the same style as Deidara's own, with a pattern of black triangular feathers on the bottom. His overcoat was also black, but a beautiful red-orange koi fish caught in the act of leaping out of water was stitched on the back with brilliant red silk threads. The Uchiha's long black hair was down like Deidara's, though somewhat shorter, but just as silky-looking as his red kimono.

The two broke apart as he came into the kitchen. "You guys look nice!" the artist said, laughing happily. The excitement was going to his head, leaving him giddy with anticipation.

Kisame looked sort of shocked, and a trickle of blood was exiting his nose. Itachi smacked him with a fan he'd pulled from his obi, and grinned at Deidara. "So do you. Sasori's gonna have a heart attack when he sees you."

"Or a massive nosebleed," the blonde snickered, indicating Kisame. Itachi glared at the shark man.

"So… how long until they get here?" Deidara didn't seem to notice how much longing was in his voice, though Itachi wasn't surprised- after the whole embassy thing, the blonde seemed to have needed someone to cling to, and Sasori turned out to be it. He glanced at the clock.

"Ten minutes. But if I know Sasori, he'll be here early-"

The door to the room slid open again, and, as expected, Sasori came in, grinning at what the black-haired teen was saying. Deidara's jaw dropped; the only word to describe Sasori was _gorgeous_. He almost started drooling. Vaguely in the background he heard Itachi whacking Kisame again.

The kimono Sasori was wearing was a really nice one; it looked like it had come from the same store as the blonde's. Starting as sort of a dark tan color at the base, it gradually turned into a cream color at the top, just enough of a tone difference to keep from washing out his normally pale skin. The overcoat was a golden-red, a lighter shade of his hair, with a dark tan obi around his waist. He carried a fan in one hand that had red spirals decorating it in fanciful swirls, which looked like it was loaded with mini shuriken and senbon needles. His hair was the same as ever, though, and it looked like he was getting a nosebleed similar to Kisame's at the sight of the artist.

Deidara was almost to the point of blushing- the obvious look of awe and lust on his boyfriend's face made him feel rather embarrassed. He scuffed at the floor with his boot.

Itachi thoughtfully handed the red-head a dishcloth. "You might want to keep the blood from getting on your kimono," he advised. "You'd have to take it off and rinse it in cold water, and it might get stained due to the fact you can't use bleach on it."

Getting back to reality instead of a dark bedroom with just him and Deidara, Sasori accepted the cloth and wiped his nose, then threw back his head and pinched his nostrils under the cloth to slow it down. The blonde led him over to the table, which he sat on calmly.

"Kami Deidara, you look fuckin' _hot_," the puppeteer complimented in a muffled voice. "Where the hell'd you get that outfit?"

"Itachi got it for me," Deidara replied cheerfully, sitting next to his boyfriend. He picked up the fan Sasori had been holding when he came in; under close inspection, it revealed that it was indeed loaded with mini shuriken and senbon. The artist realized it was the fan type _shukusen _(1), a lady's fan- base and ribs were steel, promising anyone a painful headache or deadly cuts with the razor-sharp tips of the slender ribs.

"You went all-out," he observed. "Where'd you get a shukusen, anyway?" It looked really old.

"My grandmother was a geisha before she got married," Sasori said thickly. "It was a gift from her husband. He figured that she had enough iron in her to wield it properly."

Itachi took it from the blonde and inspected it curiously. "I think I have several of these in the armory downstairs," he commented.

"You have an armory?" Deidara asked blankly.

Itachi glanced at him before going back to the shukusen. "Yeah," he said. "Weapons through the ages, it's a family collection spanning several generations. I'm pretty sure that we have something like ten of this type and several older, used specifically by the women of the Uchiha clan, though the men didn't mind stooping down to their level in weapon choice. They are very useful." He flipped the fan fully open and whirled it around his wrist, giving it a twirl that sent it flying in elaborate somersaults through the air. "If you want, I'm pretty sure I could find you one down there."

"Really?" the artist said delightedly.

Itachi paused and pursed his lips, tapping them with one finger. "Yes. In fact, I think I'll take one as well- they make very good weapons. Kisame," he ordered over his shoulder. "Wait here with Sasori for Naruto, and if we aren't back up by then, just stay here. We shouldn't be gone long."

"Yes!" crowed Deidara, and followed the Uchiha out through the door. Sasori looked like he was going to object, but he subsided when Kisame dropped onto the table next to him and whipped out a pack of cards from somewhere.

The sharky teen chuckled, dealing the cards in an almost professional way. "Can you wait until the end of the festival when we're all back here?" he asked wickedly.

Sasori picked up his hand after shifting the stained dishcloth to his right. "Nope," he said, grinning broadly

* * *

Deidara followed Itachi through several rooms to the back of the staircase leading up to the second floor. There Itachi turned and walked into the tiny closet at the base. The artist got in as far as he could and watched as the Konoha nin pulled open a hidden door behind a curtain of coats and old clothes. 

"We had to keep it hidden because after the Meiji Revolution(2) there were laws made that limited the number of weapons you could own," Itachi explained as they went down a smaller set of stairs that led to an underground room. Deidara knew it was underground because the air got a lot colder and a faint earthy scent permeated it. "Not to mention most of the family was incredibly paranoid."

At the bottom of the stairs there was a vast black space. The blonde heard Itachi muttering under his breath and lights suddenly flickered on, revealing a glittering collection of ancient weapons and archaic armor. He gasped in awe.

Everything from regular katanas and wakizashi to more exotic shaped blades and distinctly European-style broadswords were assembled here. One wall seemed to be devoted entirely to shuriken; every size, shape and color imaginable was displayed proudly upon the wall. Another had spears, naginata, pikes and staves leaning against cushions. Between each display case were low chests, presumably filled with more tools of war.

Itachi went to one of these, and lifted the lid carefully. Inside were brilliantly colored fans, from several large ones he'd seen used at school by a few Suna nin to the smaller ones the size of a butterfly dangling on earrings- mini shukusen for women (and probably gay guys, the blonde thought briefly). The black-haired teen lifted out a large box- this he dropped carelessly on the floor next to Deidara. Several muffled thumps were heard. The Konoha nin pulled off the lid, showing a huge collection of regular-sized shukusen.

"Here we go," he remarked, pulling out a blue-green one. "This'll go with your kimono. And your eye color is the same, so it'll look even better." He grinned cheerfully. "Make Sasori pay through the nose (3) over it."

The blonde pulled out a red fan with a black base and black Sharingan tomoe decorating the red band across the top, handing it to the Uchiha with an answering grin. "Yes," he agreed evilly. "You do the same to Kisame and it's a deal."

The black-haired teen cackled and the two shook hands.

* * *

Upstairs and back in the kitchen, Naruto had arrived. By the time Itachi and Deidara returned, he and the other two were on their fourth game of poker. He appeared to be winning, if his grinning face with an evil glint in his eye meant anything. 

At the sight of the two teens coming in through the door, he whistled appreciatively. "Nice," he complimented them. His grin grew, if possible, even wider.

Deidara took in the Konoha genin's appearance. His kimono was the royal blue of a kingfisher, matching his eyes perfectly. His overcoat was a dark gold that shimmered, with a red spiral on the front and back. His obi was the same blue as his kimono, and his hair's spikes seemed to droop gracefully with no headband to hold it up.

"What? No nosebleed?" Itachi demanded in a mock angry voice. "Kisame and Sasori did. Why not you?"

"Me?" the spiky-haired blonde said grandly, spreading his arms. "Why I am already a huge pervert. Nothing makes my nose bleed anymore." He grinned again.

"Yes," Sasori added. "We're growing used to your incredible hotness."

"You can say that again," Kisame approved.

"Well then," Itachi said. "Now that we're all here, why don't we head down to the festival?"

"Whoo!" Deidara cheered with Naruto. Sasori and Kisame simultaneously punched the air. "Let's go!"

The headed out to the grounds through the back, going through the huge yard behind the mansion. The whole group was in high spirits as they walked the three blocks to the festival. It only took them ten minutes, and then they were hit by the blaze of light, color, laughter and happy chatter that was the Winter Festival.

The group made their way through the twisting streets of bright, cheerfully colored stalls and kiosks, pausing to get some hot sweet tea and dango and play games. Naruto won several water balloons at one, and had fun making them explode by spinning the water around in them.

They met up with Gaara at the tea vendor's stall, and he talked with them for a while before leaving with his sister and older brother. The group also saw many of the other Akatsuki members as they wandered around.

After and hour or two, Sasori glanced at the huge festival tower's clock in the middle of the grounds and said, "I think it's almost time to meet the rest of the guys at that barbeque place, Itachi."

"Really?" Itachi looked up at the clock. It read 7:07. "Whoa, you're right. Come on, it's only a few streets away."

They hurried to the place, a small but cheery restaurant near the base of the tower. Upon entry they were hailed by a large group at one of the tables, where the Akatsuki members were all sitting at.

"Naruto!" called Sakura. She was wearing a kimono of a pale pink, a white overcoat with prints of cherry blossoms covering it and a darker pink obi. "You guys are finally here!"

"We were getting hungry," complained Hidan. His kimono was light purple, overcoat also white, and a triangle was inscribed in a circle on the back.

"Shut up," called Zabuza. His kimono was tan like Sasori's, but the overcoat was black. His sword was strapped on, despite the strange looks being attracted. Haku, splendid in a blue kimono with brown overcoat put a calming hand on his arm.

"Hey, hey, we're here now," Naruto said boisterously as he took a seat next to Sakura, who in turn was sitting with Takikko and Yuri. Sasori and Deidara took the open spots next to him, Itachi and Kisame going to the spots beside Haku. "And I'm hungry. What've you weaklings ordered for us?"

Hidan took aim and hit him with his flying chopsticks of doom. "We haven't ordered anything yet," he said cheerfully. "We just got here."

"Oho!" Kisame cried, faking a look of being aghast. "And you complain about us? Shame upon thee, good sir!"

"_Damn_ Shakespeare," Sasori interjected.

"Amen," added Deidara with feeling.

"Waitress!" Naruto yelled in the direction of the kitchen. He had recovered from Hidan's attack. "Come and take our orders!"

The girls glared at him.

"Uh… please!" he added sheepishly, doing his characteristic rubbing of the head.

They clapped, and the rest of the group cracked up. The waitress came over. They ordered drinks and appetizers consisting of gyoza and more gyoza (it was a popular food), and for a while the table was filled with happy chatter as they exchanged the most recent news and what they'd all been doing. Listening to it all, Deidara smiled and sighed happily.

Sasori glanced at him. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, I'm just happy," Deidara reassured him. "It's not like I have many fun memories like this. And I've never been to a festival, so it's new for me!"

"Oh, if that's _all_," the red-head drawled, grinning at him.

"Oh hey yeah," Naruto said blithely, entering their conversation. "You two are like, going to Deidara's room tonight over at Itachi's big mansion thing, right? Where'm I sleeping?"

"'Deidara's room?'" Sakura repeated. "Deidara, are you living with Itachi-san and Kisame-san now?"

"Er… yeah, I moved in with them," the blonde replied uneasily. "They have more room, and I needed a place to stay…"

"But what about your dad?" she asked, confused. "I thought you lived with him."

"He… had to go back to the states, and he wanted him to finish his schooling here instead of uprooting him again," Sasori lied smoothly.

"Oh. That's good then, isn't it?" she said, smiling happily at the artist.

"Yep," he said just as cheerfully.

"… and so anyway, I heard a rumor that those four- five subordinate dudes for Orochimaru were going to be sent to take some of us out, or attempt to like that wimpy trio," Kakuzu was saying to Kisame and Itachi. "You know, the Kaguya guy and the other four. They're called the 'Sound Five' or something. Not sure if it's just a rumor or if it's actually true."

"Really?" Itachi said thoughtfully. "We have some information on them, if they do come after us. Kisame, isn't Kimimaro-kun from your village?"

"Huh?" Kisame said blankly. "Kimimaro? Oh, the Kaguya clan guy. Yeah, the Kaguyas've always ended up in Kiri, for one reason or another. They're all dead now, they fought too much in World War II, and the rumor is Kimimaro killed off the last of them. The rest all disappeared, anyway."

"I think the flutist, Tayuya, is from Kumo," Hidan said. "She's been with Orochimaru for four years now, he got her as a genin."

"The rest of the Sound Five have been as well," Itachi told him.

"Well, whatever…" Hidan said, flapping one hand and searching for any remaining gyoza. His chopsticks met with an empty plate. "Damn it, you guys ate it all!"

"We _can_ order you know," Zetsu said rather uneasily, glancing nervously around. Deidara figured it had to do with the fact that he was a part-time spy, and that staying in open view so much was nerve-wracking.

"Right," Hidan said. "I knew that. _Waitress_!"

* * *

After the meal, the group split and headed to their firework-show spot- it started at 8:30 and it was already 8:10. Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, and Naruto all headed to the tower in the middle of the grounds- they were planning on scaling it and sitting on the roof for the show. Completely at ease, they threw invisibility jutsus over themselves (they had a pretty good idea they'd get stopped if they were seen) and started to walk using the wall-climbing chakra control technique they'd all learned in their first years of school. Once at the top, they sat in a row on the edge, facing the northern side of the grounds. Deidara was on the left with Sasori to his right, Itachi after Sasori, and Kisame between him and Naruto, who was on the far edge.

The view from the rooftop was breathtaking; the festival grounds lay spread out over two square kilometers around the tower. Beyond it they could see the city of Tokyo, glowing like a velvet cloth with gems of all colors and sizes sparkling on it. It was a beautiful sight, and, Deidara was pleased to say, now his home.

…now his home. His newfound freedom hadn't yet sunk in, and he was still in the mindset of carefully guarding his existence of life beyond the schoolwork and constant practice his father had forced him to live. Though his father was no longer around to discipline him if he did something he did not approve of, the constant living one way for nine years was hard to break.

Sasori's arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer to the red-head when he shivered from the chilly breeze blowing past. "Cold, are you?" he asked the blonde.

"Not anymore," Deidara replied as he leaned against the puppeteer. Itachi and Kisame seemed to be sitting comfortably together in silence; Naruto was staring into the distance with a faintly sorrowful look on his face.

A few minutes later, a voice boomed out over the grounds and the lights from the stalls began to blink out one by one. "The fireworks show will be beginning in a few minutes! Please find yourself a place to watch this year's show at this time!"

An excited babble rose above the grounds as the lights continued to go out. When the final light was extinguished, cheers began to ring out. Deidara was pretty sure he could faintly hear Hidan shouting "Hell yeah!" down there someplace, but he couldn't be certain.

There was a fizzing sound and a bright spark shot into the sky. Two seconds later it exploded magnificently, throwing bursts of red and gold sparks into spiraled arms. The crowd below "oohed" and "ahhed" as the arms slowly sank down back to the ground.

Two more rockets burst out up high, then another two, and another two, exploding one after another. The crowds below cheered in appreciation for the spectacle.

The whole thing lasted only twenty minutes, but it was a worthwhile twenty minutes. Like the collection of deadly fans in the Uchiha's armory, the bursts of light were as beautiful as butterflies (4), glimmering like precious gems in the night sky. Naruto and Kisame had made it their personal mission to whoop loudly after each explosion, make Itachi flinch slightly (you would have thought he'd be used to it by now), and now while they were making their way back through the streets to the Uchiha mansion, they tried to replicate the colorful explosions with chakra. Naruto was getting quite good at it.

"Nice," Deidara commented on a particularly pretty one; the flare of chakra burst into many hues of rich red and royal purple.

"Thank you!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Haha!" Kisame crowed. "You have seen _his_ pathetic attempt… now see mine!" He flourished his hand, where a small explosion took place, showering the rough skin with small, dull blue sparks and a lot of grey smoke that had them all coughing.

"Ack… Kisame, you suck," Sasori said disgustedly as he coughed into the smoke. The Kiri nin was trying to clear his own lungs and was not paying attention.

"Hmm… maybe I can do it," Deidara said thoughtfully, and started coughing again. Sasori pulled out the shukusen and started waving it around their heads, blowing the smoke away from them both.

"Make sure there's enough oxygen at that level," advised Itachi. "Or else nothing will happen."

Deidara held out his hand and gathered chakra in a glittering small explosive ball- dealing with exploding clay did help, he saw, as the ball blew apart violently in huge showers of gold and orange sparks.

Naruto and Itachi clapped. Sasori grinned. Kisame glowered.

"That was magnificent," the Uchiha approved.

"Whoo! Outclassed Kisame _and_ me!" Naruto said, clapping him on the back.

Itachi's gait slowed, then stopped. He frowned and held a finger to his lips, eyes darting around as the other four instantly stopped.

There! Deidara pinpointed what Itachi had sensed. Five… six faint senses of chakra up around the huge tree behind the Uchiha mansion. As one, five different projectiles hurtled off into the darkness as they whirled to face whoever was so expertly hiding themselves.

Six teenagers were standing or sitting on the tree branches: a much younger version of Itachi was sitting calmly of a branch, legs crossed nonchalantly; a tall, silver-haired male with pale green eyes and red spots on his forehead was leaning against the trunk next to him; a girl with bright pink hair, darker than Sakura's underneath a helmet-type headpiece was staring down at them, feet glued to the underside of the branch above using chakra; an incredibly obese orange-haired kid at the base of the tree; another silver-haired teen with a second… head near the fat one; a dark-skinned six-armed boy clinging to the tree trunk itself. All regarded them steadily, not flinching when the various shuriken, senbon, and kunai thudded around them.

At the sight of the six kids, Sasori had moved nearer to the blonde so as to be in a better position; Kisame subtly backed the elder Uchiha up from behind, and Naruto stood alone between the two pairs, defiant. He was glaring at the black-haired teen on the branch.

Deidara noted Itachi's eyes had narrowed when they had spotted the look-alike sitting on the tree branch, and figured that this was the younger brother; any resentment or anger Itachi might have had was not apparent, however, when he greeted him.

"Sasuke," he said coolly. "What are you doing here? The last time we met, you swore that you wouldn't come face to face with me again unless you were there to kill me."

Sasuke, if that's what his name was, ignored this. Instead, he seemed to simply watch Naruto.

"What do you want, you red-eyed bastard (5)?" Naruto snarled rudely.

The Uchiha gave a faint sound of something like contempt. "Dobe, we have an offer for you. Orochimaru offers you a position in his ranks."

Deidara and Sasori exchanged startled glances as Kisame and Naruto did the same. Itachi continued to watch the now-identified Oto nin carefully.

Naruto snorted. "Become a traitor like _you_?" he demanded bitterly. Deidara didn't miss the tiny note of longing in it. "Hell no. You see, I, unlike you, know where one can gain _true_ power. You, unlike me, are an idiot who wouldn't know power if it bit you on the ass."

Kisame snickered, and Sasori let out a laugh disguised as a cough.

"Furthermore," the blonde continued spitefully, "_your_ source of this so-called 'power' comes in the guise of a twisted, perverted, dirty, gay, fifty-year-old man."

"Do not insult Orochimaru-sama," the teen with the long silver hair and green eyes said coldly, glaring at the blonde.

"Even if it's true?" Sasori said with raw sarcasm. "I believe, gentlemen, that this would be the last member of the Kaguya clan."

A sneer appeared on Kisame's face. "I do believe you're right, Sasori," he said with his crazy shark-grin.

"Silence," Itachi ordered briskly. "We do not want to start a fight here." He hand signed _"They have the upper hand at the moment; do you really want to fight in your kimonos?" _

Kisame scowled, but backed off. Itachi did have a point; these kids were in clothes for fighting, and they were still in their festival garb.

Sasuke's mouth had curled with a disgusted twist. "I suppose you never would know anything, usuratonkachi. It appears to affect your judgment far too much."

To the other five, he said, "We're done; let's get back to Orochimaru."

Six puffs of smoke heralded their disappearance. They were gone, as though they had never been there, leaving the Akatsuki members to stare at the empty tree.

Naruto was the first to break the silence. "Well fuck him!" he yelled hoarsely, turned, and punched a smaller ornamental tree in a fit of anger. It broke in half with a crash, splintered from the force of his blow, and fell over.

The others watched it in silence. Then Itachi made some familiar hand-seals and burned what was left in a huge fireball that held more intense burning power than normal.

"You two are pissed," Kisame commented drily.

Naruto glared at him. "Shut up," he snapped, chest heaving.

"I think that we should put some wards on our rooms tonight," Itachi commented calmly, as though he had not just burned up a small and defenseless tree.

"Yeah," the until-now silent artist agreed.

"Which ones?" Sasori asked curiously.

"How about the two off of the small living room with the tiny kitchen on the side?" the Uchiha asked. "We can stock up the fridge and it should be fine."

"You mean that small wing off the main house?" Kisame clarified.

"Yeah," Itachi said.

"Got any booze?" added Sasori. "I think Naruto here's gonna blow a fuse if we don't get him plastered."

"As long as he doesn't try any of those fire-jutsus I taught him while inebriated," came the reply.

Kisame threw an arm around the spiky-haired blonde's shoulder and steered him up to the back door as he fumed, with the rest trailing behind.

"That was messed up," Deidara commented quietly to Sasori. The red-head wrapped an arm around his waist as the walked through the door.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Did you get the sense that Naruto wasn't happy about it?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied softly. "If I had any thoughts on the matter, it would be that maybe our blonde friend has a crush."

"You may be right," Sasori agreed in undertone. He grinned suddenly. "Hell, what do you think Itachi'll say to _that_?"

Deidara couldn't help it. He cracked up. Sasori joined in.

The other three looked back at them. "What's so funny?" Naruto said suspiciously.

The blonde and the red-head struggled to regain control, but the look on Naruto's face, combined with the fact that it was Naruto they were talking about just made them laugh harder.

"Eh," Kisame said, shrugging. "Probably something stupid."

* * *

After another hour of alternately drinking, playing cards, and talking, the five friends went to bed for the night at around ten thirty. Naruto fell asleep on the couch, and Kisame and Itachi disappeared into one of the side rooms. Deidara and Sasori took the other. As the blonde closed the door behind them, Sasori snagged him around the waist and pulled him into a long, deep kiss, hands tugging his sash off. It fell to the floor with a muffled crash due to the amount of weaponry hidden in its folds.

Sasori looked at it, amused. "You're prepared," he said, smirking.

Deidara fairly tore off the red-head's own. "Shut up and kiss me," he demanded.

The puppeteer eyed him as the blonde pulled off his overcoat. "Really?" he said musingly. He smirked again and pulled off his own overcoat. The gold-red cloth fell in a heap on the floor as Sasori bent down and drew him into a possessive kiss that reflected the pent-up sexual tension and lust that had accumulated over the last few days and tonight especially.

When they at last broke apart, Deidara casually pulled off his silky kimono and stripped the skeletal wire frames he'd used to strap the senbon on his forearms with off as Sasori's tan-and-cream robes were tossed carelessly into a corner. Sasori then picked him up (damn his lightness and small frame), both completely naked, covering the smaller with butterfly kisses as he walked over to Deidara's bed. The blonde avidly kissed back, very aware of being laid on the bed beneath the puppeteer, who promptly straddled him at once upon aforementioned bed, running practiced hands up and down the blonde's body.

Deidara's hands tangled themselves into their more often than not position in Sasori's hair, pulling the red-head down closer to him. He moaned appreciatively as the puppeteer nipped and sucked the sensitive spots on his neck, while his skillful hands were busy fisting and stroking him. He rocked his hips in the Suna nin's hold, humming appreciatively at the sensations he felt in response. He felt Sasori chuckle at his actions as the red-head sucked hard on his collarbone.

Heat and warm slush seemed to have taken residence in Deidara's stomach and hips, making him groan, hands tightening hold on red hair, as he came under the other's skillful treatment. Sasori kissed the skin under his lips and reached into the drawer in the bedside table-thing where he knew there was a handy stash of lube. Slathering his fingers with some, he began to prep the blonde.

The artist relaxed as soon as Sasori entered him; from experience (almost a month of the supposed "study group") he knew that if he relaxed and didn't pay much attention to what was happening, he wouldn't feel any pain. Not to mention that he'd discovered Sasori could be rather impatient and wouldn't spend too much time on the pre-sex- he'd far rather go through a whole long session than do any foreplay. So he wasn't surprised when his boyfriend spent about five minutes beforehand and then fully entered while kissing him thoroughly. Not that he minded. Sasori did have good aim, and rarely missed.

Deidara spent the next ten minutes alternating between pleasure and a haze of the unknown as the red-head managed to thoroughly please him, until the puppeteer finally came into the blonde with his own groan of pleasure. The five minutes after that was an intense make out session while both recovered from the previous endeavor. It ended with Deidara dozing in his position of spooned against Sasori.

The puppeteer kissed the top of his head and muttered, "Aishiteru…"

"Mmm…" the blonde said, half asleep already. "Aish'teru, Sasori."

* * *

A/n- Finally! It's finally done! I am truly sorry that this hasn't been up sooner, but a busy weekend last week ruined my plans for finishing this any sooner. And then my mom kept walking in when I was writing this last part… And sorry the lemon is so short :( I'm being driven out of my mind here.

(1) _shukusen_- I got the idea from Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet. I really recommend reading them; they're very good.

(2) Meiji Revolution- When Japan was finally opened up to other countries and it became all technological.

(3) Literally. Through the nose. –wink wink-

(4) Have you ever gone to the Amazon? I have. The butterflies there are beautiful.

(5) I seriously got this line from Gigabomb's **A Fox and a Shark Walk into a Bar**. Read it. I command thee.

I love reading all your answers. Did I mention that? I really do. It's a lot of fun. So here's the question for this time:

What do you think about Charles Dickens' books, if you've read any? How about Oliver Twist? If you haven't read any, just tell me your favorite book instead. Or do both :D


	8. War's Black Gates

**Disclaimer:** Never was mine, (sighs) never will be mine. And neither will Death Note! So I can't bring Mello and Matt back :(

**Warning:** Implied sex, slash, guys making out, violence, bad guy death. ItaKisa, SasoDei

Replies to anonymous reviews:

**Shinigami- **I FINALLY KNOW WHERE YOUR NAME COMES FROM:D Sorry about that, but I got into that series about a month after I last updated and went through it like a bat out of hell. And then I was sad, because all my favorite characters died :( :P Who were your favorite characters? And I can try to fit in the Rookie Nine, but I might not be able to… this IS more of a gang-based story, but I'll try to fit them in somewhere :D

**Thanks to Meibou for giving me a piece of welcome information! (squeals in joy)** I now know that the industrialization of Japan was actually named the Meiji Revolution, so a BIG thanks to her!

* * *

8. War's Black Gates

Deidara was warm. Not that he usually wasn't, but he was warmer than usual. And he was very relaxed. Why would that be? He wasn't usually relaxed anymore, either. What with all the work he was doing in school and all. And Akatsuki.

Hmm… who knew that pillows could be so soft and warm…

"You really like to cuddle up to people, don't you?"

Wow. He didn't know pillows talked either.

"Hello…. Hello, wake up. I know you're awake. Actually, stay sleeping. That way I can stare at you for as long as I want and no one will tell me to stop."

The artist yawned. Opening one eye sleepily, he asked "What?"

Sasori stuck his tongue out at him. "You won't let go of me. I've been sitting here for an hour, waiting for you to wake up. Did you know you drool sometimes?"

Deidara let go of the hold he'd had on the other's waist. "Whatever," he said, yawning again. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

"Baka," Sasori muttered, and got out of the bed carefully so as not to wake his koi up again.

He headed to the kitchen, where he was greeted by the sight of Itachi completely dressed and ready for the day.

"Why the hell are you already dressed?" Sasori demanded of the other teen as he sat down across the table from him.

Itachi looked up blankly over the papers, which the red-head realized were reports on Oto nin, and said "Hi…"

Sasori grabbed the steaming mug that was clearly Itachi's, confirmed that it was nothing more than green tea, and drained half of it in one gulp. The black-haired teen yelped, and snatched the mug back, pegging the puppeteer with his pen in retaliation.

"Ah!" Sasori said, raising arms to defend himself. "What the hell was that for?"

"Tea-molester," Itachi said furiously. "Get your own tea, and leave mine alone!"

"Touchy touchy," Sasori muttered. "What's pissed you off this early in the morning?"

Itachi looked back down at the reports he had spread out in front of him and frowned. "I don't like the way this war is heading," he said somberly.

"It's a war now?" Sasori said interestedly.

Itachi sighed, frustrated, and ran a hand through his unbound hair. "We've been fighting Oto for pretty much five months now. It might be guerilla, but we are most definitely at war."

The red-head sat in silence. "So you don't like the way the war is going…?" he prompted eventually.

"By my calculations they will start the first real attacks within the next two weeks," the Konoha nin said shortly.

* * *

And so it did. The attack on Sakura, it turned out, had been only been a tentative probe at the strength of the Akatsuki members. Within the next two days the first full-scale fight broke out between ten Oto nin who were all led by Kaguya Kimmimaro. 

The member they attacked was none other than Mizukami Takikko.

* * *

Takikko was sleeping when the first of the nin came after her. They didn't go for stealth at all- they simply smashed in through the window, two at a time. Caught completely by surprise, she slapped three of her smoke bombs next to her bed and retreated through the wall, only to find that five more nin were waiting for her along with Kimmimaro. 

She snarled and whipped out five kunai in each hand, sending them flying within less than a second. Two of the enemy nin didn't move fast enough and were killed instantly; the other three acquired minor and/or major injuries. Kimmimaro blocked the three sent towards him, and completely ignored the three of his remaining subordinates, lurching towards the kunoichi with speed that left her nearly too late when she performed a back spring against the side of the apartment and flipped clear over his head.

Takikko knew that she was clearly outnumbered against the Oto nin, and so, cursing herself as she did so, she hit the ground running and ran as fast as she could. She tapped an earbud similar to the one that had saved Sakura's life, alerting Yuri to the fact that she'd been attacked, and anyone else in range, and altered her course so that she was racing for the Uchiha mansion, the predetermined grouping place for when the fighting started.

As she ran, she noticed that there were seven shapes behind and to either side of her as she leapt over traffic in the crowded streets and pushed off of buildings with bursts of chakra.

Damn, she thought furiously. Damn that Kimmimaro!

Abandoning all stealth, she dropped her chakra concealment and stopped controlling her outbursts as much. This gave her some added speed, but it was still very close; she could feel their chakra systems slowly, but steadily, getting closer and closer.

She was at the turnoff street for the driveway to the mansion; she dropped to the street and fairly flew along the pavement. She hit her earbud frantically to alert Itachi of her presence and her situation.

Just as the house came into view, she saw four figures in the robes of Akatsuki, and she nearly died in relief. Kimmimaro just then realized where they were, and stopped dead.

The six Oto nin accompanying him did not fare so well. One was burned alive in a giant fireball, one trapped in a puppet which decisively stabbed itself, and three blown to pieces by flying specks of brown matter.

The tallest and one of the smaller figures raced ahead of the second pair, and as Takikko got closer, saw that Itachi and Kisame were chasing after Kimmimaro, who had stopped and appeared to be retreating. He did not leave fast enough, however, and the two Akatsuki attacked.

Now that she was (for the moment) out of danger, Takikko realized that she couldn't stop. She had been running on adrenalin and chakra for too long, and her system couldn't stop the flow through her body. She thought for a moment that she was going to run right past Deidara and Sasori, but Sasori caught onto her and held her in one place long enough for her to stop running. He let her go, and she stood for one moment, and collapsed as fatigue and chakra loss took over.

Barely conscious, she noted that Sasori had picked her up and taken her inside, before darkness closed over

* * *

Working in complete teamwork, Itachi and Kisame fought hard against the pressed Kimmimaro. The Kaguya fought fiercely, knowing that he didn't have much of a chance out of this encounter, when he was against two of the best fighters in the school.

Kisame slashed at the prodigy with Sameheda, and Itachi dove at him katana raised overhead as he anticipated the enemy nin's duck. He caught Kimmimaro across the chest, leaving an open slash that bled fiercely.

Taking advantage of his brief distraction, Kisame rammed the pommel stone (the skull) of Sameheda into the nin's stomach, making him double over. The Akatsuki caught him a devastating kick, sending him flying through the air to slam against a tree. Itachi was there in an instant, driving the katana through the Oto nin's chest until the blade stuck into the tree trunk behind him. The Uchiha twisted the blade and pushed it down like a lever in one instant, giving Kimmimaro one brief moment to scream before he died.

Itachi wrenched the blade free, Sharingan spinning wildly. He vaguely noticed that he was gasping for breath, but the notion was very far away… the blood from the dead Kaguya clan member ran down his blade, painted his hands, was splattered across the dead teenager's face-

"Itachi!"

He jerked and came back to his senses. The black-haired nin glanced at Kisame, who looked rather worried.

"Itachi, damnit," and Kisame was holding both of his shoulders and shaking him roughly. "Itachi, get a grip. Get a grip, damnit, stop thinking about it- he's dead, Takikko's safe."

"What?" he said. He blinked, and what the Kiri nin said finally sank in. "Oh. Is she okay?"

"I don't know, but she couldn't have run that fast otherwise," Kisame said, assured that his lover wasn't in the dangerous state bloodlust brought on.

"Oh." He thought about it for a minute, trying to reorganize his thoughts. "That's good then. Uh…"

"Come on," Kisame said, sounding worried again, and he gently steered the Uchiha back up the drive. At the moment, he knew that what Itachi needed to get over the last vestiges of the lust was to drink something hot, preferably tea, and get some sleep.

* * *

Sasori had just dropped Takikko into the spare room Naruto generally inhabited when visiting and left her sleeping on the bed. He came back out just in time to see Itachi plunge his katana into the leader of the group, and he came up behind Deidara. He tapped the blonde on the shoulder, and held up his hands when the smaller teen spun around to show that it was him. 

"Oh, it's you," Deidara said, sounding faintly relieved.

Sasori smiled, traces of amusement on his face. "And if I wasn't?" he asked jokingly.

The artist stuck his tongue out at him. Sasori took it as an invitation, and, since he could sense no more enemy ninja, he pulled the blonde in to a deep kiss.

They were still kissing when Kisame and Itachi came up to them.

"Kissing at a time like this?" Kisame asked wryly. Sasori flipped him off without breaking the kiss.

Itachi and Kisame continued in to the mansion to alert the other members and Rei-sama of the attack.

* * *

There was a spell of non-combat for two days after the Kaguya clan member had attacked. Obviously, Orochimaru hadn't expected one of his major agents to get killed in an attack on a minor member of the Akatsuki, and it appeared that he needed a few days to regroup. It was then that Rei-sama gave the order for them all to camp (in a manner of speaking) at the Uchiha mansion, a predetermined move if things got this far.

So, the group of three at the mansion became a group of fourteen when all of the members moved in together into one, huge, house (1). Needless to say, things got a little rough.

For example, Naruto had a hard time with Yuri and Takikko. Not that he couldn't get along with them- he just couldn't stop hitting on them. Zabuza had a hard time keeping calm when Hidan complained about religious infringements he or other members had committed. Itachi's temper grew thin whenever Kakuzu stared at him after any casual gesture showed the Uchiha's wealth. And NO one could cope with Tobi except for his partner, Zetsu.

Even the more passive members had a hard time keeping the peace between each other- the constant clashing of personalities left even Haku exasperated after long periods of argument and diplomacy.

Because of a room shortage, the girls had the largest bedroom to share, Itachi and Kisame kept theirs, Sasori and Deidara shared Deidara's, and Tobi and Zetsu shared one only to get Tobi out of everyone else's hair. Hidan, Kakuzu, Haku, Naruto, and Zabuza slept in the living room, spread amongst the two futons and the couch. Haku and Zabuza had the black futon, Naruto claimed the red futon, Hidan staked out the couch, and Hidan commanded a corner in keeping with his "religious" practices.

After everyone had moved in, Itachi set about completely sealing off the house to unwanted influences- namely, intruders. He and Sakura wrote out fifteen sealing scrolls each, and took Naruto, Kakuzu, and Yuri to place them, as those three had the largest chakra stores amongst the group. Five went in trees surrounding the perimeter, and the other five went at the base of the same trees. Using blasts of chakra, Naruto broke tunnels down twenty yards below ground under the trees, and the remaining five scrolls were placed in the makeshift grottos. Naruto started five, Kisame seven, and Yuri three, enclosing the house and twenty yards in every direction above and below in a strong, protective chakra barrier that would take a lot of stress before weakening.

The next step for the two nin was to create _more_ seals that would be accepted by the barrier and let pass through- one for every member of the group, to allow them to come and go freely. Sakura and Itachi spent five full hours in the kitchen arguing about the dynamics of each before finally creating a working talisman, which they quickly replicated multiple times after getting Kisame to load them with chakra. These were handed out on small chakra-based steel chains, designed to be worn like necklaces that could only be undone or cut by the wearer's chakra. If the chakra was not applied, it would not come undone. This was to prevent Oto nin from taking a talisman from a dead member, which everyone agreed they hoped wouldn't go that far. But it was a possibility, and precautions must be made.

Rei-sama alone did not come to the mansion, although he was given a talisman. Instead, he told the group that he would remain outside the makeshift fort and collect data. He did, however, leave his apartment and disappear from the world outside, only reappearing for teaching hours.

The last thing they did was stock up on easy to cook, storable food. If they were caught in a semi-siege state lasting for longer than a week, they would most certainly need it.

Preparations complete, the Akatsuki could only wait. The two days passed, and nothing happened, but the sense of non-combat disappeared. Naruto and Itachi both sensed enemy nin outside the barrier on the third day, and Deidara and Zetsu both saw members of the Sound Five prowling, later identified as Sakon, his twin Ukon, and Jirobou, presumably looking for weaknesses in the barrier.

They found none, and on the fifth day, the surrounding area was clear. No one was fooled, however. The attack was bound to come, sooner or later.

It turned out to be sooner, rather than later.

* * *

A/n- And yes, I stop it there. At the moment I'm kind of floundering in which direction to go, but I have a sort of overall view in what's going to happen. Sorry for taking so long, and I do sincerely apologize for the long wait, as well as the shortness. I will try to update sooner, next time, so maybe… before the end of the month?

As to the last question, I found a surprising number of people did like Charles Dickens, so I must retract my "I hate all that is Dickenish" statement. (bows) Also, I have gained many new books to look into! They are, as listed: Anna Rice's vampire series (sorry, no other info), The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks, Hypocrite in a Poofy White Dress by Someone-or-other, the 'Twilight' series by Stephenie Meyer, and also The Protector of the Small quartet by Tamora Pierce.

And yes… new question! What is your favorite country, what do you know about it, and why? I will give a list with basic descriptions in my next chapter (which will hopefully be longer), as well as any stand-out-ish comments.


	9. Disaster Claims Its Victim

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, and since I now like Tobi, it makes me sad. Sigh… I need a new favorite who's actually alive…

**Warning:** Guy/guy love, because all the fangirls love it. Like me! KisaIta, SasoDei (yay!). Oh, and MAJOR PLOT TWIST!!! That will have everyone raving at me… (cowers)

**I have now edited this three times. The changes have relevance to the plot, trust me :)**

Replies to anonymous reviewers:

rainbow lover- Thanks for the encouragement! Don't starve yourself though…

Fox- Why thank you! I know, there are a few grammar mistakes…. I just reread through the story and found several ones that just popped out at me. But since I'm one of those nitpicking editor betas, I figure they're small enough to leave alone for now…

hamfoot- There was a (1)? Hmmm… let me see. Oh…. I think I meant something like 'or mansion, really.' Haha, thanks for pointing that out! And thank you for the nice compliments :) I actually think this is one of the best examples of my writing, though it's sad that I can't show it to my mom… She'd totally flip if she knew what it was about.

Nymph- I've updated! Later than you wanted, probably…. Alas :(

Mox: I think this came after only a few months of you reviewing…. Haha. I love India as well, and the Taj was BEAUTIFUL. It was really overcast, sadly, but at least it prevented the marble from frying out feet off. We did, however, slip around a lot…. Because it was raining like hell :D

Angel Akasuna No- Thank you! I'm glad you like the story :)

* * *

A distant booming noise woke Naruto up. "Gimme a few more minutes," he mumbled, thinking it was someone telling him to get up. A second boom sent him shooting up, coming to complete awareness as to what it was.

Someone was attacking the barrier.

No one else in the room appeared to have heard it, but when it was repeated a third time Naruto knew that was what was going on.

"Up!" he yelled. "Get up! They're here!" The room came alive with moving shapes and curses.

"What?" Hidan demanded groggily from his corner.

"Are you sure?" Haku asked quietly from where he was sitting on his futon. Zabuza was on his feet next to him, sword out.

"They're attacking near one of the trees," Naruto said, eyes closed as he tried sensing them. "It's where my scrolls are." He opened his eyes, and saw the others looking at him. "Wait here, I'll go get Itachi." He turned and headed down the hall for the stairs. "Someone wake up the others!" he yelled over his shoulder.

* * *

The blonde burst into Itachi and Kisame's room. "They're attacking!" he said urgently to the two teens, who were now on the other side of the room in combat position.

"That's it?" demanded Kisame. "Brat, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He lowered Sameheda.

"They attacked near one of the trees with my scrolls in it," Naruto said, looking to Itachi. "It started just a few minutes ago."

"Get everyone up," ordered the Konoha nin, pulling on a shirt. "And have them get together in the main room."

"Gotcha," Naruto said, and disappeared back into the hall.

"Shit," murmured Itachi as he paused to glance out the window. "Shit shit shit. This isn't good…. I can sense a lot of ninja out there."

Kisame glanced out. "Yes," he said briefly. "Looks like it's starting now."

* * *

Downstairs, everyone was all together in the main room, and the babble of chatter as the others asked what happened rose over the lot of them.

"What's going on?" Sasori asked Kakuzu, after dragging Deidara with him through the crowd.

"I'm not sure," Kakuzu replied. "Naruto woke us all up in here yelling 'They're here! Get up!' Then he headed for Itachi's room and told us to wake the rest of you up."

"Hey, Naruto, what's going on?" Sakura yelled over to the blonde on the other side of the room.

"Enemy nin started attacking about ten minutes ago," he yelled back. "Itachi told me to wake you all up and to get armed. You guys got your weapons?"

"Not exactly," Tobi called from the back.

"We have some," Deidara yelled.

"Everyone, return to your rooms and outfit yourselves completely," Itachi said calmly as he walked in. "Group here again in five minutes. I'll brief you then."

A mixed chorus of "Hai!" greeted the remark, and the members streamed off into their rooms for their weaponry.

"Kisame, call Rei-sama and let him know what's going on. Tell him not to come until we assess the situation and call him back."

"Hai, Itachi," the shark nin replied, and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

In their room, Sasori and Deidara were getting properly dressed and armed silently. The blonde strapped the frames of senbon needles he'd worn to the festival to his forearms again, and stuffed shuriken into every available hiding place. Kunai were tucked everywhere, and his ever-present bag of clay hung at his side.

Sasori, on the other hand, pulled several scrolls out of one of his bags and tucked them into the back of the sash he'd tied over his shirt. He added more conventional kunai and shuriken to pouches on his belt, and threw in a coil of wire. His Akatsuki robe went over everything.

When he turned around, he saw his koi watching him with a slightly apprehensive look. "What's wrong?" the redhead wanted to know, stepping forward to carefully wrap an arm around the other. 'Carefully' being the key word- he didn't want to have to earn injuries before the fighting even started simply because he hugged his boyfriend.

"Nothing, nothing," muttered the blonde, leaning into the embrace slightly. "I just have a… bad feeling, y'know?"

"Not really," Sasori replied dryly, squeezing his friend a little tighter. "But then I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing- it feels like a lot of enemies out there…"

* * *

A few minutes later, people began to trickle back into the main room, pair by pair until everyone was once again assembled. Itachi stood in the front, quietly conversing with Sasori and Kisame until everyone was comfortably settled, or as comfortably as they could be under the circumstances. By this time Kisame and Yuri had also felt people attacking the barrier near their scrolls, so they were on edge as well. The attacks on the barrier seemed to make the air inside the shield thrum as the energy in the scrolls repelled the attacks.

"Yosh… everyone come in close here," Itachi said, waving them all in close. "I don't want to be overheard. They've cut the phone lines and jammed the cell phone reception- we can't get a message to Rei-sama unless we turn to more unconventional means. We don't even know where he is at the moment, either, so we can't expect any help from him until Monday… it's only three in the morning right now, so he won't know we're in trouble until he notices we aren't at school two days from now."

"What we think we know is that Orochimaru's deployed about half of his forces- maybe three hundred ninja," Naruto added. "You know he's been building up his forces… he's probably after the whole of Japan, who knows? But we're gonna have a hell of a time getting out of here."

_Alive,_ was the unspoken addition. Deidara and Sasori moved closer together.

"The barrier should last for a week at the very least," Itachi said in the dead silence. "We can probably come up with ways to even out the odds during that time. We've got time mostly on our side, so don't worry. But… if anyone wants to leave, now is the chance."

"I'm staying," Sasori said instantly.

"Me to," Deidara said with conviction.

"Like hell I'm gonna back out now," snapped Takikko.

"Someone has to patch you up," Sakura threw in.

"I'm not leaving my partner," Yuri said firmly.

"Because Orochimaru's a goddamn pedophile," said Hidan easily, evoking a strained laugh from a few.

"Not leaving," grunted Zabuza.

"Me neither," Haku added.

"I can't die," Kakuzu said calmly.

"I'm staying," Zetsu said.

"Tobi will!" cheered the Konoha nin.

"And we're staying, obviously," Naruto said, grinning hollowly as he indicated the three of them in the front.

"Then that's settled," Itachi said briskly. "Now, I propose that we have a few raiding teams to go out and try to kill some of the lesser ninja."

"Sounds good," Kakuzu said. "Who's going?"

Itachi paused for a moment, eyes looking over those assembled. "Let's have Takikko and Yuri… Zabuza and Haku… and Deidara and Sasori. But first I'm having Zetsu map out the encampment of shinobi. I'll need you six people to meet me in half an hour so I can brief you on what's going to happen and hand out some maps."

Everyone was nodding, Itachi saw, and he motioned to Zetsu. The green-haired nin made a motion of understanding and disappeared into the wall.

* * *

Zetsu appeared outside of the barrier, and slowly pulled himself out of the tree he'd ended up in, pulling invisibility and chakra-shielding jutsus on as he left its trunk.

He looked around, noting that he was just outside the perimeter of the barrier, and headed off silently into the surrounding area. The garden that Itachi had let grow so wild contained several hidden shinobi, and he marked the groups on his mental map carefully. He avoided them as he glided through the wild growth, keeping to the shadows as much as possible while he wandered amongst the ranks of the Oto nin.

Halfway through his mapping, he registered a field of immense chakra in front of him- a smaller barrier mirroring the one Akatsuki had put up. Zetsu could sense several people in the three tents enclosed within its radius- presumably the Sound Five and possibly Orochimaru himself. But then he reconsidered; Orochimaru would try not to tie himself to anything like this. Sending his forces would be enough for the moment.

He made a wide circle around the three tents and continued onwards around the mansion. It seemed as though the estimate Naruto and Itachi had made was about right- there appeared to be three hundred or so shinobi all around the area plus what was left of the Sound Five.

When he reached where he had first come out, he stopped and found the tree again. He shed the jutsus and disappeared into the tree trunk.

* * *

Half an hour after the discussion, during which they had spent in their room, Sasori and Deidara grouped around Itachi and Kisame in the kitchen along with the other two teams going out.

"Here's the encampment," Itachi said, tapping a piece of paper that a rough map had been drawn on. "We're going to divide this into sectors. Kisame and I will take the north-eastern sector-" he indicated an area to the right of the smaller barrier, "-Yuri and Takkiko will take the south-eastern sector-" the sector below his and Kisame's, "Zabuza and Haku the south-western sector-" directly to the left of Yuri and Takikko's, "-and Sasori and Deidara will take the north-western sector." Itachi indicated the sector to the left of his own. "Is everyone clear?"

"Hai," they chorused.

"Good. Memorize the positions shown here. Take five minutes to do so. The ones marked in red are the places you want to attack- they're higher-ranking shinobi, and we need to pick off as many as possible. _Don't_ attack the barrier surrounding the three tents- it's a mirror of ours, and it would be useless. Also, the ninja there are probably what's left of the Sound Five, and maybe Kabuto. We don't want to tangle with them until we're ready, and certainly not until there aren't any small fry left out there. More than likely, you'll get yourself killed if you go after them."

"Are we going to be wearing stealth and chakra signature hiding jutsus?" Yuri asked.

"No," Itachi said. He pulled out several medallions from his pouch and handed them out. "These will cover chakra signatures, but only as long as there is chakra in your system. Tag a little of your chakra onto it so that it will hide your signature. But don't lose them- I don't have many. I'm going to pass out the rest of them so that when we all wear them; the other ninja won't be able to tell where we are at all. They can probably already sense us in here, anyway."

"How should we kill the shinobi?" Haku asked quietly.

"Stick to your weapons. Shuriken, katanas, senbon needles, etc. Silent killings only- we don't want to alert them. Try to avoid unnecessary use of chakra. You might need it for later."

Deidara grimaced. Silent killings weren't exactly his forte. Sasori squeezed his shoulder sympathetically.

"Any more questions?" Itachi asked.

"No," someone murmured. The rest shook their heads.

"Alright," the black-haired teen said. "I'm passing out the rest of the medallions. Tag your own, and we move out in five minutes."

* * *

Deidara and Sasori agreed that that it would be better for them to split up, since they'd cover more ground that way. They gave themselves twenty minutes only- it had to be fast, or they'd run the risk of being caught, thus disrupting the other teams' raids.

Deidara pinpointed one group of shinobi: five were sleeping, and there were two others keeping watch. He targeted his first two kills- the two standing guard. They were side by side for some reason, and though he didn't know why it worked out fine in his favor. He grasped kunai in both hands, and swiftly stabbed each in their kidneys and twisted the blades sharply. The pain was bad enough that they didn't scream, and the wounds were deadly enough to kill almost instantly. He lowered the bodies to the ground so as not to make any noise. Of the remaining five, none of whom had woken, he slit each one's throat.

Done with the first group, he froze and waited for thirty seconds. Nothing happened. He slipped off to the next group, which was thirty yards away behind a hedge.

This group was all asleep, even the supposed sentries. He killed them, and went on.

By the time his twenty minutes were up, he had killed all but one of his targeted groups. The fourth group had put up a bit of a struggle, since the last member to die had woken up during the middle of it. About to yell for help, Deidara had caught him between the eyes with a kunai. Then the blonde had hidden in a tree for five minutes to ensure that no one had noticed the death of the ninja.

He was behind schedule, but he decided to keep it safe. He was about to return to the rendezvous point when a distant yell made him freeze. It was taken up by several others all around, until he could clearly hear "Intruders! Akatsuki members attacking!"

From his tree he could see the small barrier erected at the edge of his sector. Distant figures began to come out of them; he could distinctly see a pink-haired girl and the twin brothers, as well as someone looking distinctly like Itachi's brother. They went through the barrier along with two others, and split up through the camp.

Deidara didn't need to hear any more- he made for the barrier between the mansion and Oto's army. He used the trees as his main means of escape- however, he was seen within seconds. A hue and cry rose up behind him, and instantly several nin were in pursuit.

Shuriken and kunai whistled around him- one clipped his ear and sheared some strands of blonde hair from the bangs covering his eye. Up ahead, he could see the perimeter of the barrier-

-and he flipped backwards suddenly as an Oto nin appeared right in front of him. With his back to a tree trunk, Deidara looked at the nin and ducked belatedly as the other took a swipe at him with a kunai. As the sharp edge of the knife blinded his left eye, the explosives expert slammed a fist into the other's chest. It threw the enemy away from him, and the blonde cursed the pain in his eye as he reached into his pouch and brought out one of the paper-and-clay spider bombs he had brought along just in case. He dropped it on the other nin's body as he ran past it for the barrier, and made the final hand seal to make it explode just as he reached the chakra wall.

The blonde broke through it with a sense of relief, and glanced back as he began to slow down. Several Oto shinobi appeared to have run straight into the wall, and were lying dazedly on the ground. The rest looked at him, clearly frustrated. However, someone started calling something in Oto code, and they looked away. Some started to grin broadly, and they turned their backs to the wall and headed off.

Filled with a sense of foreboding, Deidara turned and loped off back to the mansion. He opened the front door and headed for the kitchen, where Itachi had told them to meet in after the raids.

When he got there, he saw only a few people. Itachi and Kisame weren't there, though Yuri and Takikko were, looking a little the worse for wear.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked them as he sat on the floor, holding a dish towel to his injured eye.

"I think something happened in Zabuza's sector," the green-haired girl said. "We heard some people yelling from there, first, and then everything went to hell. We got out of there with minimal fighting, though. What happened to your eye?"

Just then, Itachi and Kisame came in, supporting a cut-up Zabuza. Haku was behind him, looking both worried and disheveled.

"Get Sakura," Itachi told the teen curtly. "Tell her we need her at once." He and Kisame laid the massive swordsman on the table. Itachi then noticed Deidara.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked. "And where's Sasori?"

The blonde frowned, now thoroughly uneasy. "We split up to cover more ground. I haven't seen him since then..." He stopped, and thought about the grins on some of the Oto shinobis' faces.

"Then he's probably just had a harder time of fighting," the Uchiha said decisively. "he wouldn't be taken down so easily."

Haku came back in with Sakura. She instantly went over to the Kiri nin on the table, hands glowing green. Haku stood around, looking like he was feeling useless.

Deidara stopped watching; he was thinking more about why Sasori wasn't there yet and why the enemy had been smiling…

Why would they be smiling?

_Oh, shit!_ he thought, just as Hidan called from upstairs. "Itachi! There are people standing along the barrier! It looks like they have a message… They have one of those white truce flag things!"

"What?" Itachi said sharply, and headed for the stairs. Deidara started to follow, but Kisame told him to stay in the kitchen and wait for Sakura to look him over.

Sick with dread, he waited for the pink-haired kunoichi to finish with Zabuza, which she did within a few long minutes. Then she came over to him.

"Get that towel out of your eye," she ordered, and he complied hastily as she raised green hands up to it. He flinched as she pulled open the lids and looked directly into it- it hurt painfully.

"Oh dear," she said slowly.

"What?" he asked nervously.

She looked worried. That was not a good sign.

"Well," she continued, removing her hands and pulling out a roll of gauze, "I'm afraid that the eye is too damaged to heal…. You've lost sight in this eye, I'm afraid."

He stared at her, briefly diverted from his musings. "That's all?" he said at last as she began to wrap his eye over with the thin material.

She looked rather confused. "Well, now you don't have a left eye," she said, cutting the ends of the bandage and tying them neatly.

"Oh." He considered this. "Well, I do have two, you know. Or I did. And Sasori could-" Deidara stopped.

Footsteps heralded the return of Kisame and Itachi, both of whom looked grave.

"They had Sasori," Itachi said quietly.

Deidara went even whiter than when his dad had appeared in Itachi's kitchen to take him home on that disastrous day several weeks ago.

"Dead?" he asked after several silent moments, voice barely above a whisper.

Itachi looked down. "They had his body. It was… hardly recognizable." _They ripped him to pieces and all that's left is a pile of clothing and blood. So sorry artist, but your boyfriend is dead._

The blonde sat down on the floor hard. It echoed through his head: _dead… dead… dead…_

Sasori was dead.

And he hadn't even been there to help him.

Deidara couldn't even describe the sense of loss that seemed to overwhelm him. He just felt… sadly empty. It couldn't be possible. But he knew that Itachi wouldn't have told him unless it was true…

He slowly stood up, and headed out of the room. He could hear Itachi and Kisame saying things, but they seemed far away, distant. He paid them no attention. He walked though the main room where a few of the others were sleeping; Naruto looked up and started to say something, but the artist didn't stop.

He entered the room that he and the puppeteer had shared only hours ago, and locked the door. He added a few jutsus to keep it locked, and to keep out others. Then he curled up on the bed and started to weep silently.

* * *

A/n- I am evil. I really am. I shan't say anything more about the story because it'll ruin the effect.

As to other things, however, I shall become verbose :)

I completely agree with all of you that I am a most horrible person, for I have kept you somewhat on edge with the last chapter for nine months! A brief account of my evil doings and dastardly deeds would be this: breaking up with my boyfriend, nearly departing from the earth by my own hand (again), and then becoming embroiled in an unjust accusation of being racist… by which time the dreaded Writer's Block had its firm grip upon me and I lost interest. Yes, I am horrible, and I apologize deeply for this massive hiatus…

**I am starting on the next chapter tomorrow! This I doth swear!** And then I shall secretly work on it late at night all of next week, because I am no longer allowed on the computer during the school week days… As I am entering my sophomore year in high school, my dad (who is also my principal) has determined that I shall nevermore lie about homework. (Which I never actually did.)

Now… favorite countries! **Japan** received **six** votes, the reasons being it's where anime comes from, they make hairpins, the people are polite, and the food is good :) Then there's **Korea** because they have a richly preserved culture (although the food's not as good.) After that is **New Zealand** because there are tons of fun things to do there, and then it's **Finland **for having beautiful landscapes.** India **has interesting people and the beautiful Taj Mahal, and **China** because there's good food. **Australia** was also up, because it has warm weather, and **Armenia**, although the voter didn't specify why :) **America** was up because it's the land of the free (go America!) and because it has Disneyland, and **Singapore** because it's freakishly clean XD **Germany** is here because someone really does love it. **Canada** is just plain awesome (and so is Weird Al's "Canadian Idiot!!!").

And I put up my own country love paragraph… because I'm evil :3 But my favorites are **Thailand** because it has delicious, cheap food, **India** because of the random chaos that ensues when you merely try to drive through town, **Greece** because it has a rich history, good food, and beautiful islands, and last (but not least), **Japan** and **Ireland**- Japan because it's so interesting, and Ireland… because it calls to me. (No really, it does!)

So, I end this note with another question: What is writing to you? Or if you don't write or haven't started writing yet, what is reading to you?

**If I don't have another chapter up by next Sunday, you have my full permission to murder me.**


	10. Torment

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. If it was, I would have killed off Tobi and then been sad later on, since he and Zetsu are now my favorite characters :)

**Warning:** Guy/guy, don't read if you don't like. KisaIta and SasoDei. TORTURE, cutting, and suicidal plans.

Replies to anonymous reviews:

jxp7962- I think your random cry stuck in my head subconsciously.

rainbow lover- I make my living by being cruel. It brings many benefits :) I'm glad you like the evil plot twist, and I think you're the only one who did, too… -ducks under deluge of tears and complaints-

**Not many people answered my question last time… -cries-**

* * *

10. Torment 

Several of the members were grouped together in the main room, all slightly stunned. Sasori's death had been a blow to all of them, and had most definitely lowered group morale. He had been one of the best, and the fact that the enemy could so easily take him down shocked them all.

"I can't even begin to know what Deidara must be feeling right now," Yuri said sadly, tears running down her face. Takikko was sobbing quietly next to her.

Most of the boys just looked bewildered. Hidan even looked somewhat sorrowful- he had respected the puppeteer despite their differences.

"Has someone talked to Deidara?" Zetsu asked.

"He's locked his door and warded it," Sakura said tiredly. "He won't answer if you call him. I don't even have a clue as to what he could be thinking right now… if he's even conscious. I think we should just leave him alone for now."

* * *

An hour had passed, and though Deidara had stopped crying, he was reduced to staring at the wall, eyes glazed over. He wasn't exactly awake, but he wouldn't call it asleep, either; he felt like he was in a dream, though he knew he wasn't. 

The empty feeling from before had been replaced with a dull despair that alternately ebbed and flowed, sometimes swamping him and other times merely shadowing his thoughts. In the moments of deepest despair, he thought about the kunai and shuriken he had armed himself with, but when the feelings lessened somewhat, he just wondered why he'd stayed in Japan when he'd had the choice to leave. Sometimes he thought that if he'd left, he wouldn't be feeling so much pain right now. The distant part of his brain that reasoned that it had been worth it was ignored.

Several times in the past hour other members had tried to get him to come out, but he'd merely added more chakra to the jutsus on the door so they couldn't open it, though none had tried to force it- yet. He knew he was probably letting them down, but he couldn't seem to make himself care enough to leave the room.

_Gone… gone… gone… _Despair swept over him again. He felt rather hysterical, wondering helplessly if it would always be this way.

He sat up and eyed the kunai he'd placed on the pillow next to him, and then picked it up. He suddenly felt wildly reckless, and he tested the point on his thumb. It was very sharp. Deidara rotated his hand until it was palm up, and he gently dragged the sharp blade "up the street" along his forearm, as his classmates in California had called it. Blood stained the blade and ran down to his elbow.

How did it get that brilliant red color? It was almost like Sasori's hair, a rusty bright color. A second red line joined the first, then another and another. More blood trickled down his arm. He almost giggled at the sensation.

But that _color_. He'd never seen anything like it. He knew how to paint, since his mother had taken him to classes when she was still alive, but he'd never seen that color in any pigment. It was so pretty… so brilliantly colored. The artist dropped the kunai and traced a finger along the inside of his arm, and held the stained finger so he could see it more clearly. He tasted it; it was salty and warm.

He got up suddenly- a little too suddenly, and he swayed unsteadily- and he staggered over to one of his boxes of stuff left over from when he'd moved into the mansion. Digging around, he came up triumphantly with a brush that was meant to be used when writing out exploding tags and such. He slicked the fine hairs in the red liquid and made a graceful line curve around the slashes on his skin. It looked like one of the kanji for "exploding" he used with his spider bombs. The blonde made another, fascinated.

Switching hands, he started to write them on his right arm in all different sizes. This took longer, because his left arm was hurting. He ignored the pain and forced his hand to keep moving. By now he was shaking from suppressed sobs and shock.

A sudden thought came to him. It was a vague concept, more like something directing him to the wall… lines, graceful lines… and explosions.

* * *

Kisame's head snapped around, diverting Itachi from his conversation on tactics with Naruto. 

"What is it?" he demanded.

Kisame started walking out of the kitchen. "I smell blood."

"There's blood in here already," Naruto interjected as Itachi turned and followed.

"Yeah, but it shouldn't be there," Kisame said, leading them through the main room and down a second hall. They came face to face with the door to Deidara's room.

The Kiri nin leaned in close and sniffed the air coming out of the room. Alarmed, he tried to open the door, jiggling the screen hard. It wouldn't open.

"Deidara, open the door!" he snarled.

"What's he doing?" Itachi said sharply.

Naruto's nose picked up what Kisame had smelled moments ago- blood, and a lot of it, was in the room behind the door. "Blood," he whispered, going pale when he realized the significance. "Kisame, get the door open now!"

Kisame was trying to do just that, but no matter how he strained, he couldn't open the door. "I'm- trying," he hissed.

"Get out of the way," Itachi commanded. The shark nin moved with alacrity at the order, but instead of trying to open it, Itachi merely kicked it open, splitting it in half with a sharp crack and falling to the ground. They walked in with little disregard for the pieces, but stopped dead.

Inside the room was a hellish scene that explained the scent of blood quite clearly.

The first three walls were covered in the kanji for "exploding," all of which written in blood. The fourth wall was mostly bare, but in the center was diagram of a scorpion-shaped figure (1); this was the wall that Deidara was staring at while standing in the center of the room, body shaking. His arms hung at his sides loosely, brush dangling in his right hand. Blood dripped from the fingers of his left hand into a small puddle at his feet. He didn't seem to notice that the others were there.

"Oh my god," Kisame muttered.

Naruto made a retching sound.

Itachi hesitantly made his way over to the shivering blonde. He touched the artist on the shoulder, and was rewarded with a flinch, but nothing else. The Konoha nin grasped the other's left arm and slid back the robe's loose sleeve, revealing the long slashes down the forearm. They slowly oozed blood.

"Naruto," Itachi said quietly. "Get Sakura."

* * *

Sasori came to slowly. First came the awareness of chilly air against his skin; next was the realization that the chilly air sensation was coldest over his arms, though he could feel it sinking into his clothes. Then there was the hard roll of cloth stuffed in his mouth- it was slowly sliding down his throat, choking him. He couldn't feel any hard objects- he was unarmed. And his cloak had been taken away. 

He began to repeatedly curse himself at his stupidity when it dawned on him where he was.

What had happened was that he'd been too close to the smaller barrier- when the alarm had been raised, those damn twins Ukon and Sakon had caught him almost immediately. He'd been fighting the older twin with Hiruko when the younger had managed to slide into his body and control his movements. It had slowed him down sufficiently, and other ninja had promptly tackled him along with several other less competent Oto nin. They had bound him tightly in chakra-core-chain rope. After rummaging through his supply of poison, they'd managed to find one that he used for paralysis and injected him with it. He'd lost conscious after that.

Now he wasn't sure exactly what time it was, and he didn't dare risk opening his eyes to let them know that the poison had worn off. The poison wasn't overly dangerous, but its application was for small doses- what they'd given him- and they only lasted for a short time. He'd developed it to knock out and paralyze bodyguards and such, and was designed to wear off in a short amount of time, but since he wasn't sure the Oto nin knew that, they might overdose him. That would be fatal.

Since he couldn't see what time it was, he approximated- the poison was designed for one to two hour decapitation, and since he'd tested it on himself most of the time, he'd built up somewhat of a resistance. He could conclude that it was probably forty-five minutes after the raid had ended, maybe more, but he couldn't be sure.

For the moment, he lay still and tried to figure out what was going on. There was someone watching him about a meter away, sitting on a bed or chair. The guard didn't move at all- he was just sitting there. He spent a few minutes trying to sense what was beyond the tent, but the poison still had lingering effects, and he couldn't tell where anything was beyond a few meters.  
"Stop pretending you're asleep," the guard ordered in a cold voice. "You've been awake for the past five minutes."

Sasori kept his eyes firmly shut. The guard moved in close and grabbed him by the hair, dragging him to face level. The puppeteer could feel the breath as the other hissed at him. "If you don't drop your ridiculous pretense, I'll drag that boyfriend of yours in here and start torturing him myself."

They had Deidara? No! But then… How… they were going to torture him. _His_ Deidara, _his_ koi…

He opened his eyes and glared at the guard. Or tried to- everything was fuzzy for some seconds, until everything came into focus. He blinked in shock.

His guard was none other that Mr. James Taiga himself. Surprising as it was, Sasori had a completely unrelated thought somewhat along the lines of _'He broke his parole thing?' _

"Oh my," the man said softly. "What have we here? Why, isn't it that very same young man who was ever so rude to me?"

A fist came out of nowhere and connected with Sasori's left eye. He grunted. Skin ripped- a trickle of blood told him that his eyebrow had split. Blood obscured his vision briefly.

"How the mighty have fallen," the man went on. He dragged the teen upright, still by the hold on his hair, and shook him like you might a dog. "You have been a very bad influence on my son you know," he went on, half dragging half carrying the puppeteer over to a pole, where he hooked his bonds onto a projection. He turned his back on the teen for a few moments, and when he faced him again he held a hypodermic needle. He flicked it casually to get rid of any bubbles, and the liquid inside sloshed around slightly. Sasori watched it with some apprehension.

Taiga roughly grabbed the puppeteer's arm and found his elbow. He pushed in the needle and injected the substance into the large vein. Sasori stiffened when a wave of pain washed over him, following his circulatory system around his body. When it hit his heart, he blanked out for a few moments in the ensuing shock.

When he regained consciousness, he found that he was now hanging from a higher projection on the pole, by his wrists only. His extra restraints had disappeared, though he was now also chained to the floor. He also no longer had a gag half stuffed down his throat.

He grimaced and tried speaking. "Possessive, aren't you?" he managed roughly.

Taiga eyed him coldly. "I'm going to make you scream," he threatened. "My orders are to make you talk about your little club, and I intend to do that and more."

The puppeteer stared at him disdainfully. "Kiss my ass."

The older man picked up a kunai and showed it too him. The blade was dull, as if it hadn't been sharpened after its last use. The blade seemed to gleam sinisterly.

"I think my son does enough of that," he said, and slammed it point first into the bound teen's shoulder.

Sasori clenched his teeth so tightly he could feel them creak. He would not- _would not-_ scream. The sound came out as a strangled hiss instead.

Deidara's father- no, the bastard- twisted the knife slowly and then withdrew it. It shone wetly in the light, covered in the dull red liquid that began to flow from Sasori's shoulder. Taiga set the kunai aside on the table behind him and picked up a vial of a bright green substance.

"I noticed you liked to mix up poisons and such," he said conversationally as he pulled out the stopper. "It just so happens that I also have a talent for mixing up things. Isn't that funny? My dear Deidara did hate me so, but here he is now, fucking another poison maker." At this, he poured a little of the liquid onto the open wound.

The red head jerked as fire seemed to burn in the already pained flesh; ten times worse than just putting salt on it, and it didn't help clean anything like the mineral did. He had almost bitten through his lip trying not to make any sounds. He concentrated on his breathing, trying to regulate it. When he managed to control it to a sort of gasping pant, he realized that the other man was still talking.

"…so now I'll have to ask you how to get into the barrier, other than that medallion that you wear," he was saying.

"Bugger off."

"Fine then," came the reply with mock sadness. Another pole was pushed through the crook of his arm and braced against his good shoulder; the man applied a burst of energy that dislocated the puppeteer's arm. He gasped silently in pain- now all his weight was hanging on his two, injured shoulders.

"We can keep this up all night you know," Taiga said easily. "You're friends think you're dead; we took your body and decorated it a bit, then showed it off from behind the barrier. They wouldn't guess that we'd take you and interrogate you, especially when you looked like nothing more than a pile of bloody rags and bones."

Sasori was ignoring him, thinking about Deidara instead. The blonde hair, those eyes…

"In any case, I'll need you to _pay attention to me_," the other said savagely, punctuating the last few words with blows to his chest. He felt several somethings crack painfully, and breathing suddenly became a whole lot harder. The pressure of being hung by his arms was already putting stress on his heart (2), and now the broken ribs were constricted inward by gravitational force pulling down on his body. Also, blood loss from his shoulder was starting to get to him. He wavered in consciousness.

"You will stay awake!" the man said savagely.

Sasori blinked slowly as things fit together in his head. "You don't have Deidara, do you?" he said faintly. "Because if you did, you'd be talking to him right now…"

Taiga slapped him. "Don't be stupid, boy. We have your boyfriend here too."

The puppeteer smiled slightly in defiance before he passed out again.

* * *

Itachi had had Naruto bring Sakura to his and Kisame's room, not wanting her to see the other room yet. Kisame had carried Deidara up to the room through a less-used and longer route that wouldn't bring them into contact with any of the other members. Itachi had stayed to seal off Deidara's room before heading up after Kisame. 

The blonde had protested weakly at first, but had eventually fallen into a sort of stupor. When Sakura was able to thoroughly look him over, she informed the Konoha and Kiri nin that the stupor was the result of blood loss and shock, for which she gave him blood pills and a stress-relieving tablet. On his mental state, she was unable to inform them of anything. So, they made him lie down on the bed. Within a few moments, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

After an hour of blissful darkness, Sasori was dragged out of the comforting blackness by a sharp pain in his hand. Something had split with a ferocious snap. He came awake gasping and wide eyed. 

The pain turned out to be a broken little finger on his left hand. It had been crushed by pliers held by his torturer and interrogator. Sasori swore loudly before he remembered his promise to keep silent.

"Painful, yes?" Taiga said calmly. "I will keep breaking your fingers until you tell me what I want to know. If not, you will never again be able to control those puppets of yours."

Sasori rocked from side to side as if to get rid of the pain. He was now tied to a sort of reclining chair, restraints on his arms, legs, and around his hips and upper chest, tightened especially brutally around his broken ribs. The rocking didn't help. He said nothing.

The torturer selected the next finger and brought the pliers up. Another crack, another blindingly sharp pain, and despite his oath of silence, another bitten-off curse. He still said nothing.

Three fingers later and finished with the left hand, Sasori had his eyes squeezed shut and his lip bitten through. Blood filled his mouth as he recited physiological information to himself.

_The hand and fingers are the most sensitive parts of the human body… a broken finger can have a grown man sobbing and on his knees… due to the delicate nature of these bones, breakage can be permanently crippling if not tended straight away… _

_ Crack_. Blinding flash of pain. Soft groan and rock back slightly. Repeat.

_Crack_. Growing darkness. Faint noise. Lose consciousness.

_Crack_. Make indefinable noise between scream and choking sound and regain consciousness. Begin listing adjectives in head that describe evil guy breaking fingers.

_Crack_. Desperately hold on to light and sanity while screaming out swear words in Russian.

_Crack_. Feel sanity leaking away while staring wide eyed straight ahead. Register that bastard is now talking about something else and that there is a lot of blood in mouth. Lose consciousness again.

This time, Taiga didn't bother to torture him awake. Instead, he siphoned the blood out of the teen's mouth to keep him from choking, and left the tent.

* * *

Deidara was plotting. He didn't usually plot, but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

After having slept for what appeared to be a good four hours, he'd waken up to the walls of Itachi and Kisame's room, unfamiliar, until he remembered the events of the past several hours. Despair had returned in full force, but this time Deidara was able to think through it more clearly. He decided that he was absolutely certain that he couldn't live without Sasori, and since Sasori was dead, there appeared to be only one option.

Something had stayed his hand, though, when he'd started searching for any pointy or sharp objects he could find. A vague idea that soon turned into the beginnings of a plan, and thus, a plot. It all started with remembering that sketch he'd drawn on the wall (with his own blood, but he didn't think very much about that), which had caused him to remember what he'd been thinking in the first place, and so Plot: Suicidal Bomber had been conceived.

The sketch he'd drawn had been the schematic for a new bomb, or the vague idea of it anyway. They would be small, but deadly, and several of them combined would have the same amount of power for one of his C3s (3), but confined to less of an area. He figured a couple of explosions like that could take out the shield that the Oto nin had erected, if it had the same strength in it that the one covering the manner currently had. Due to the smaller size, it should be easier to destroy, he reasoned.

He had to get ready unnoticed, though. He didn't want to arouse either Itachi or Kisame, both of whom had treated him to disapproving looks, and in Itachi's case, a lecture. He had sat and looked downcast throughout the entire thing, not really listening.

So, he'd started creating a hoard of tiny scorpions, ready to explode at his every whim. He made a little under a hundred, along with several of his customary spiders and birds. He didn't bother with the larger bombs; if worst came to worst, he had the option to throw what remained of most of his chakra into the barrier around the mansion and use his last-course attack, which would obliterate everything in ten kilometers. He didn't want to go that far, though; there were too many people in the range, and the barrier around the mansion wouldn't be able to hold under the pressure.

Instead, he put most of his chakra into the smaller bombs, making sure the scorpions were at the strongest they could be.

He'd have to move fast, now- he could see the sun beginning to come up. A dawn attack was probably not something the enemy would expect, not after last night's escapades. Carefully, he finished outfitting himself, and, using the back passages, hurried outside and towards the barrier, after throwing on a few invisibility jutsus. He knew it would only be a matter of time until Itachi figured out where he'd gone- he needed to get into the enemy's camp before that happened, if at all possible.

When Deidara left through the barrier, he found himself at the south of the camp. He skirted it on the inward circle pressed against the barrier, until he came to the north of the camp, where the smaller barrier was.

Silently, he crouched in some bushes. All around him throughout the camp, ninja were getting up and starting to eat meals. Some stayed asleep.

Reaching into the pouches at his sides, he brought out fistfuls of scorpions. Blowing gently on all of them, he set them on the ground and they scuttled off to go find the barrier. Then he released several more to go find enemy ninja to hang around.

When five minutes had passed, Deidara made the hand seal. A massive explosion was heard, as well as several other smaller ones, and a backwash of dispelled chakra signaled the destruction of the barrier. Screams were heard, echoing in the clear winter air.

Now the blonde released his birds, and they flew off, exploding by themselves whenever they entered the range of something with body heat. This caused further panic.

Deidara left his hiding place, invisibility jutsus still on, to head for the tents previously held in the barrier. He passed unnoticed by heaps of dead and injured, as well as small fires started by the blasts. When he reached the tents, he found that they were unharmed. He deducted that the backwash of chakra had canceled out the remnants of the blast.

The first two tents appeared to have been recently evacuated- Deidara noticed that the twins Ukon and Sakon as well as the flutist Tayuya had rushed off. None of the other Sound Five were in the vicinity. Just then, a head looked out of the opening in the third tent.

* * *

Sasori was once again awake, but most definitely not to pleasant morning greetings. He was met with a cruel smirk and a scalpel instead. 

At the moment, Taiga was having great fun in dissecting the red head with said red head conscious. The pain and emotional shock was finally enough to have Sasori screaming, although after an hour of the torture he'd lost his voice, and the noise level had dropped noticeably. By now he wasn't even sure how he'd stayed alive this long, although the other man's sense of when someone was about to cross the threshold from one world to the next was uncanny. He'd managed to keep Sasori dancing on the shadow's edge for the past two hours.

At this point, Sasori was just waiting to die. He'd been concentrating on happier thoughts, like the Winter Festival and other good memories, but he'd lost his ability to concentrate and was instead reduced to a thought process that simply dreaded the next cut or monotone remark. Deep down he knew that he wouldn't die until they could get something from him, and that thought nearly made him despair, because it would mean that he would more than likely just tell them what they wanted to know so that he could die in peace.

A massive explosion sounded, as though going off right over their heads, and something seemed to give. Several smaller explosions were heard as well, and screams rang out. Taiga straightened, looking puzzled, and went to the front of the tent. After a few moments of hesitation, he stuck his head out of the front flap, while Sasori gratefully fell into oblivion.

* * *

Deidara's father emerged completely, one hand holding a bloody scalpel, the other clutching a kunai. He looked around him for what had caused the mayhem. 

The blonde went cold. This man… this man had ruined his life so much. This man was the cause of it all. Why he had come here, why he had had to take refuge. Every hit, every blow, every broken bone and cut or bruise was replayed through the artist's mind, and his rage grew greater, if possible. He leaped for the man.

Taiga heard the swish of clothing and swerved to the side, but Deidara altered accordingly and whipped around, slashing with a kunai. A long gash streaked down the older man's chest, ripping his clothes and leaving a trail of blood behind. He turned around just as Deidara dropped the invisibility jutsu and reached for a spider bomb.

"You," his father hissed as he threw the explosive at the man, forming the seal almost instantaneously. The man's accusation was cut off by his ensuing death.

Deidara moved on to the tents. He entered the tent his father had come out of before he'd killed him, fully intending to blow it to hell. His fleeting glance around stopped him in his tracks, however.

A very familiar someone was strapped to a chair, shirtless, and covered in blood. What appeared to be his skin was peeled away from his stomach, showing the muscles and organs beneath it. A stab wound in one shoulder had dried over, but had not been cleaned. The other shoulder was bruised and misshapen. The worst sight, however, was the hands- the delicate fingers that could so dexterously control a puppet were all smashed and broken.

"Sasori?" Deidara said in disbelief, a slight sob echoing in his voice. The red head didn't move.

Several shouts cut through the blonde's thoughts. He was galvanized into action, at the bound teen's side in an instant, and was unlocking the restraints within seconds, using the handy ring of keys that was hanging conveniently on a hook next to the entrance flap. He ripped off half of what appeared to be the remnants of Sasori's shirt and tied it tightly across the puppeteer's midsection after carefully replacing the flaps of skin. The medallion that Itachi had given them as well as the barrier pass were both still around Sasori's neck, Deidara was pleased to see. He threw an invisibility jutsu over the both of them, and picked up the red head in the piggy-back style used when a ninja had to carry someone, but still be able to keep a hand free.

He cautiously exited the tent and looked around. None of the Oto nin in the vicinity were alive or able to move enough to put up a good fight, so Deidara quickly set off towards the barrier, once again using the trees. His scorpion and bird and spider explosives had done their work- he did not run into any living Oto nin, and those still alive he avoided easily.

"There they are! _Get them!_" someone male screamed behind them. Deidara ran for it.

* * *

A/n- :) So, what say you, good readers? Satisfactory? Says I, yes! 

(1)- In Japanese, 'Sasori' is the word for 'scorpion.'

(2)- This is why the Romans crucified people- they either died from heart failure after hours of torment, or they died from dehydration and lack of food (if they had a thingy under their feet to rest some weight on).

(3)- One of the bombs he'd designed to destroy villages in the manga, though in this story it's the one he was thinking about in the third chapter while going to Itachi's house.

As to last week's question, the common consensus was that writing is a form of expression and escape for most people. For me, it's a way of writing a story to suit my preferences :)

This week's question: Do you like your school, and why?


	11. Resurface

**Disclaimer: **Read slowly, as reading too fast can cause blindness. Take only in small amounts. Nosebleeds may cause serious blood-loss. Not mine.

**Warning:** Gruesome descriptions, fluff, boyxboy. You know the drill, right? No lemons, sadly.

**When life gives you lemons, drool.**

* * *

11. Resurface 

With the explosions, Itachi knew exactly what happened. A glance into his room revealed no Deidara, and so it was confirmed. Then he started swearing.

So now, all of the other members were grouped around the windows facing north, since Itachi had told them that it would be impossible to go into enemy territory and try to bring the blonde back out. Several people had disagreed with this decision, but when he had asked them harshly whether or not they wanted to get killed in a useless quest, they subsided, albeit reluctantly. Kisame would have demanded to know why in a private conversation immediately, if he hadn't seen how much it had cost the Konoha nin to make the order. Others hadn't noticed, and they shot rebellious looks at the black-haired nin.

Since much of the barrier was obscured by trees from the window vantage point, they couldn't see much, but they could hear plenty. Screams of fallen ninja and shouted orders rang out, along with more explosions. A scream was heard above the rest:

"There they are! _Get them!_"

* * *

Deidara was suddenly being chased by scores of uninjured ninja. Now he had to dodge and swerve around unexpected enemies popping up out of nowhere. He dug around in one pouch and found the remnants of his scorpion army; he blew on them and dropped them one by one behind him. Explosion after explosion rang out, catching quite a few of the Oto nin as they pursued him towards the barrier. 

He was at the barrier. He dropped the rest of his scorpions, flipped high into the air, and detonated them. Just before hitting the barrier, the blonde thought something had touched his hand, and then he hit the barrier-

-and was jarred to a stop halfway through. Sasori was thrown clear of him, and he landed on the ground a few feet away. Deidara slid down the curve of the barrier, half in, half out, and completely confused until he looked to the right and saw-

-_What the hell?!_

There was a head attached to his right shoulder. To be more specific, it was one of the twins' heads- Ukon or Sakon. And it was on the other side of the barrier, staring at him with cruel joy.

"You're not getting away that easily," the head hissed with an expression of utmost glee. Deidara swore.

"Don't attack him! We want him alive," yelled the second twin from the edge of watchers gathered around, causing most of the enemy nin to lower their attack stances and weapons.

"Since he took the other prisoner, he can be used in place," jeered the flutist Tayuya.

Deidara was thinking fast. The twins became part of their enemies using cell distribution; which meant all of the invading cells would be grouped outside the barrier, which was his right shoulder, part of his chest, and his arm…

Carefully, he dug around for a kunai with his left hand as the others started to approach him. He hooked one of his legs around a tree root to keep them from dragging him through. Then, faster than the eye could follow, his left arm came through the barrier and stabbed his right shoulder. The head screamed, and Deidara pulled with his left leg as strongly as possible, dislodging the twin from his body as he escaped through the barrier. He staggered off a few steps and rested against a tree, staunching the flow of blood with a hand as he watched the Oto nin react.

The twin he'd dislodged was writhing on the ground, a stab wound to the throat. The other twin was on his knees next to him, screaming bloody murder. The rest of the nin looked askance, and shuffled around unhappily.

The blonde smiled grimly to himself. _Let them see how it was like to lose someone they love_, he thought, and turned away to where Sasori was.

* * *

The members of Akatsuki had heard the screamed order, and all waited to see what would happen next. Hidan had already tried to charge off, by Kakuzu had kept him from going. Now there was only silence as they all listened intently. 

There had been a string of explosions and the sounds of angry ninja, but now there was silence. Another shout- not to attack. That did not bode well with the members. Muted voices could be heard, when suddenly there was a scream of pure anguish. The angry shouts started again, but stopped soon enough. The scream turned into hysterical ravings, none of which were intelligible.

"Kisame. Go see what happened," Itachi commanded quietly. The other left the room with quiet "hai", though the rest stayed, watching as he exited the mansion and headed for the trees.

Kisame headed for the barrier, almost daring to hope. The Kiri nin had noticed that the screaming voice was not Deidara's, and since the voice was now fading out as if the person was being led away, he could conclude that the blonde had at least done some damage before being taken down, if at all.

Red lay stark against the brown and yellow of the grass and ground behind a tree trunk. Beyond it, coming from the edge of the barrier, was a shadowy form slumped against a tree. Beyond it still further, and behind the barrier, there was a group of angry Oto nin, some watching him and some looking in the opposite direction.

The figure came into some light, and it was revealed to be Deidara. He gave a lopsided grin when he saw Kisame.

"I was wondering when you'd figure out I was gone," he said. He gestured tiredly towards the red patch against the ground. "Can you pick him up? I don't think I can carry him much anymore."

Kisame stared at him.

"I think," he said finally, "that you are the craziest person I know."

"Yes," Deidara said patiently. "Now can you get Sasori? I blew up too many things to do anything other than walk."

"What?" Kisame said.

"Sasori. I found him." The blonde smiled twistedly. "They were having my dad torture him." His tone turned slightly desperate. "Can you take him now? He really needs to have Sakura look him over."

Kisame moved over to the puppeteer, and hissed at the sight. He was a mess. The Kiri nin gently lifted the limp form off of the ground, and turned back around to face the mansion's general area.

"Come on, baka. Better hold onto my arm to keep yourself upright- you don't look to good either."

The blonde gratefully held on to the tall shinobi's arm as they made their way to the mansion.

* * *

Sakura had been called as soon as the members at the windows had seen Sasori draped lifelessly in Kisame's arms and the blonde hanging off of the blue-skinned ninja.

Now she, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi were in the kitchen. Sasori was lying on the table, stripped to the waist. Deidara was at his side, watching closely, while Itachi stood nearby in case Sakura needed something.

She'd done a scan on Sasori first, and found that his heart was beating, though very weakly. He was barely breathing, too. She'd spent the first half an hour trying to bring him up into a stable condition, and in that she'd almost failed. But now, thankfully, he was breathing again, and his heartbeat was somewhat stronger. She'd been forced to heal his ribs completely before he'd shown any signs of improvement, and that had taxed her. After she had stabilized him, she'd forced some blood pills down his throat to replenish his blood supply, which had been dangerously low.

Now she rocked back and lifted her hair off of the back of her neck to cool down. The kitchen was currently the warmest place in the house, with the old fireplace in the wall burning brightly and shedding heat like no tomorrow.

"Water," she called. Itachi immediately brought her a glass of it, and she drank it gratefully.

When she had finished, she set the glass next to her and turned her attention to the puppeteer's hands. Under other circumstances, she'd have healed them first, but Sasori had been so unstable in the first place that she'd had no choice but to heal other things first. She gently lifted his right hand and surrounded it with the cool green of healing chakra. She sensed that the fingers had already started healing to some degree, but she quickly demolished that and started to healed them again, properly this time, straightening and aligning the bones as she went.

She finished his right hand and moved on to his left. She did the same as she had with the right hand, and when she finished, she was sweating. "More water," she commanded. She drank the proffered glass and moved on to where the torturer had started dissecting him. She examined the open wound and used her chakra to burn off the infection that had started to set it. It took a lot more chakra to carefully replace the knots of muscles and flaps of skin into their original positions and make them knit together again.

Next was the dislocated shoulder. "Itachi," she called again. "I need you to set his shoulder back in its socket now."

The black haired nin came over, and grasped the arm and shoulder firmly. Sakura covered the joint with her hands.

"Ready… now." Itachi pushed the arm back into its socket with an unpleasant crunching noise, and Sakura's hands immediately glowed green as she healed the torn muscles and tendons.

Sakura came to the last shoulder. She pulled a bowl of warm water to her, and began sponging away the blood around the ragged edges of the torn flesh, so that she could see what she was healing. When it was clean enough to suit her, she again burned out infection, and started the healing. Blinking tiredly, she reached for a needle, thread, and a roll of gauze, and began to sew up the wound in red head's shoulder.

"You're not going to heal it completely?" Deidara asked, breaking the silence. His question was somewhat sharp.

"Yes," Sakura said, continuing to stitch the wound shut. "I still need to work on your shoulder as well."

"No," protested the blonde. "It's not important. Heal Sasori instead."

Sakura paused, and glared at him. He glared back.

"Do as she says," Itachi said quietly from the corner. The blonde subsided, looking rebellious.

The medic nin finished binding up the wound and began to wind the gauze around it. She didn't stop until she had several layers over the stitches. She cut the gauze and tied it off. Then she turned to Deidara.

"Take off your cloak and shirt," she ordered. He complied, and she started on his wound. Like Sasori, she burned out the infection and sewed it shut.

When that was done, she motioned to Sasori. "I'd feel better if he was on a bed," she said tiredly. "Perhaps his and Deidara's room? He might feel more comfortable in someplace familiar."

"That isn't possible," Itachi said slowly. "But I think I can find a mattress somewhere."

"That'll do," Sakura said, not bothering to ask why he couldn't sleep in his room. "I need to rest now, so I'll be in my own room if you need me." She gathered her supplies and left.

Itachi went to the door as well, and called Kisame over to him. "Take Naruto and find a mattress somewhere- I think we have one in the basement. Get that and a couple of blankets and bring them up here." Kisame nodded and took the blonde with him as the headed down to the basement, a more conventional one than the armory.

"I'm staying with him," Deidara said, tone brooking no arguments.

"That's fine," Itachi said, sounding overly patient. "But I want to speak with you now, upstairs."

"But-" the blonde began to protest.

"_Now_," Itachi hissed, glaring at him. The Iwa nin decided that it would be best to remain silent.

They went upstairs to Itachi and Kisame's room. Itachi closed the door, and tapped a small labeled tag with his chakra. Lines of glowing light shot out from it and covered all the walls.

"Silencing scroll," the Konoha nin said brusquely. "Now would you care to explain your actions?"

Deidara shrugged. He didn't really have anything to say about what he'd done. Itachi glared furiously at him.

"Just what were you trying to accomplish?" the black-haired nin snarled. "You deliberately went out there to destroy them in a wholesale slaughter. I would have though Hidan more fitting for what you ended up doing. Were you trying to kill them all because you thought that they killed Sasori? Is that it?"

"…no," Deidara said in response to the last question. He frowned. "Not completely," he amended.

"Then _what were you doing?_" Itachi fairly screamed at him, eyes whirling dangerously. "You could have been _captured,_ you could have been _killed_-"

"That was the point," the artist broke in quietly, looking the other straight in the eye. He shivered slightly as the Sharingan condensed and spiked, before separating into tomoe again.

"Nani?" Itachi said after a length of time. He'd gotten his voice back under control.

Deidara avoided the black-haired ninja's gaze. "I said, that was the point," he repeated.

"You went into the enemy camp and attacked them so you'd get killed in the ensuing fight," Itachi said flatly, as though the words hadn't seeped in the first two times.

"Hai."

For a few long moments, the Uchiha simply stared at the artist.

"Why?" he asked finally.

"Sasori was dead," Deidara said plainly. "Or at least, I thought he was. There didn't seem to be much point in… I wanted to do something."

There was silence again.

"Never do this again," Itachi said finally. "_Never_. And if Sasori gets himself killed, then I will seal you down with every scroll I have until we can talk some sense into you. Did you know how Naruto or Kisame felt when they heard your explosions in the enemy camp? Do you know how they felt when I told them that we couldn't risk sending people out to bring you back in?" He stopped, scowling at the blonde. Then he sighed.

"You might as well go look after Sasori, then," he said tiredly. "Hang a couple of sheets and screen off the part of the kitchen he's in. We'll move him to another room when he wakes up."

"Which room?" Deidara asked, slightly relieved to have moved away to less dangerous waters.

"If you can clean up your old room in time, we'll just move him back into your original room," Itachi said. "He'll need to stay out of the action for the next couple of days."

The blonde grimaced at the mention of the mess he'd made, but nodded in agreement with the last statement. He wouldn't let Sasori back into the fight until he was fully recovered.

* * *

Sasori was finally coming out of the sleep Sakura had put him in after patching him up. 

It was about midnight; he'd slept almost the entire day and then some. He woke up slowly, too. First coming to him was the sensation of warmth, and softness beneath him instead of the hard wood of the chair in the tent. There were no drafts, either, and he was under several blankets.

There was also no pain, or at least a lot less than he would have thought he should be in. He'd lost track of how much stuff had been pulled out of him by Taiga, but there seemed to be no pain in his abdomen, except for the kind one got after a hard workout and tired muscles. Actually, the only thing that really hurt was his shoulder, the one that had been stabbed.

Maybe he was being healed so that he could sustain life longer? It wasn't a pleasing prospect. He couldn't sense anything, not with his chakra levels so low. He could tell someone else was in the room, though: he could hear the draw and release of breath. It appeared to be originating a little ways away. It sounded like someone was dozing. Should he try to risk seeing who it was? If Taiga had known when he was awake before, he'd probably know now, so it didn't seem to matter. He opened his eyes slowly.

Hazy in the beginning, within seconds the view was clearer. Firelight danced on the ceiling in an otherwise darkened room that looked very familiar. He didn't make the connection until he noticed a black-and-red-and-blonde form leaning against a wall close by.

For a moment he stopped, frozen, trying to comprehend the contrast between a torturer's tent and Itachi's kitchen, drawing a blank. He slowly propped himself up on his good arm, wincing as muscles screamed in protest.

So attuned to the silence in the kitchen, the rustling of the blankets prodded Deidara out of sleep. He blinked tiredly and noticed Sasori, who had turned and was watching him. They stared at each other.

Deidara smiled slowly with a sort of relief and murmured, "You woke up, finally."

Sasori stared at him. "How did I get here?" he said at last. His body was starting to ache, and a migraine was threatening to take over his brain.

Deidara looked just as tired as Sasori felt, even after who knew how many hours of sleep. "I went out there and brought you back."

Something niggled in the back of the puppeteer's head. "Did the others…. How did you know?"

"Know what?"

The redhead considered this. He was starting to lose concentration. He vaguely thought that it had something to do with the healing that had obviously been placed on him, but he wasn't quite sure.

Deidara noticed his lack of perception and suggested "Lie down. You still need to sleep; you might not have all the poison crap out of your system yet."

Sasori grimaced and slowly lowered himself back against the mattress. He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his head; the migraine was coming on with a vengeance. "How did you know?" he repeated after a few seconds, opening his eyes and turning his head back towards the other. Remembering that the blonde had previously asked for clarification on the specifics of his question, he added "about me not being dead."

Something odd flashed briefly in the explosives expert's eyes, and he blinked. "I guessed," he said. "There wasn't something quite right about the display they gave."

Again, something passed through the edge of his thoughts. Sasori ignored it, noticing for the first time the bandage that was wrapped around the blonde's forehead and eye. The hair that usually covered his left eye and the dim light had disguised the linen until just now. He propped himself up on his right elbow, wincing slightly, and shakily reached out with his left arm to tuck the hair out of the way and trace the bandage. Deidara obliged the puppeteer by moving in closer so that the other wouldn't overtax himself as the caress moved from the bandage to the cheek, and finally the neck, where Sasori tugged slightly. The blonde smiled and crawled onto the mattress with the redhead, who used the artist's leg as a pillow. He drifted off almost immediately.

Deidara propped himself against the wall and stayed awake just a while longer, partially cradling the puppeteer against his side. He dozed off as well just hours before morning.

* * *

Sasori did not wake again until the sun was high and it was well into midmorning. Deidara wasn't there anymore, though there seemed to be some activity in the house; Sasori could here low voices, probably because they were a few rooms over. 

His head was much clearer now, and the only remaining pain was from some assorted bruises left over from the foray into enemy camps (that Sakura obviously thought insignificant enough to warrant slow healing) and the stab wound in his shoulder. That was only a dull throb, which he easily tuned out.

The redhead sat up slowly. The muscles in his stomach twinged unpleasantly, but did not complain after that. He noted that he was in the far corner of the kitchen, across from the fireplace, and that there were a few sheets hanging from the ceiling that screened him off from the rest of the kitchen, presumably for privacy.

Sasori stretched slightly, and when he felt no warning pains, stretched harder. Everything seemed to be in working order, except the shoulder. His tongue felt thick, and his teeth felt disgusting. He grimaced at the feeling of being covered in dirt and sweat. He decided right then that his first order of business was a shower- the need to feel clean was stronger than the hunger he felt.

He got out of the bed cautiously to avoid falling or tripping- he wasn't quite sure about his reflexes yet. He pulled back the sheet and came face-to-face with Sakura, who was carrying a set of clothes. She smiled, obviously pleased that he was already up.

"Glad to see you've survived, Sasori-kun," she told him. "Do you want a shower or a meal first?"

Sasori smiled wanly. "A shower," he said dryly. "Then a meal. Please?"

She handed him the clothes. "Certainly. Try not to get your bandages wet- I'll change them when you're done, while you're eating. Is that okay?"

"Hai," he said, taking the clothes. He made to move away, and Sakura surprised him when she seized him in a short, tight hug. "I'm really glad you're doing better," she said sincerely. "Deidara nearly killed himself when Itachi told him that they'd killed you."

Sasori blinked. "What?"

Sakura looked surprised. "What? Oh, it wasn't too serious. Nothing happened," she added, recalling that Deidara hadn't actually been in serious condition. "He just went a little crazy, that's all."

Sasori hesitated, sensing that there was something more to the story. Seeing his indecision, Sakura smiled again and shooed him out. "Go take your shower," she told him. "It's not important right now."

"If you say so," the puppeteer said grudgingly, and turned to go out. He left the room, and Sakura went to go tidy up the corner he'd been sleeping in.

On his way to the bathroom, Sasori found himself in the room where Naruto, Hidan, Kakuzu, Haku, and Zabuza were all sleeping in. It had become the main meeting room since they had all begun to camp out in the mansion. At the moment, nearly everyone was in there, all of whom looked very happy to see him up and all of whom got up to congratulate him on getting free. Yuri and Takikko both hugged him and scolded him soundly for making them cry, while most of the guys greeted him with backslaps (very gentle) and insults. Tobi tried to hug him, although Zetsu dragged him away before he could do anything. Sasori didn't notice until he was continuing on to the shower that Deidara hadn't been in there, either.

By now, the need for cleanliness was almost overwhelming. He got to the bathroom, closed the door, and turned on the showerhead. The water washed away two days' worth of dried sweat, remnants of dried blood, and lots of dirt. The redhead scrubbed every inch he could clean without ruining the bandages, and washed his hair twice, reveling in the feeling of water running over his skin. He even took in a mouthful of water and swished it around in his mouth a few times.

Shutting off the water, the puppeteer got out, drying himself off with a towel. He found his toothbrush and cleaned his mouth for a good two minutes, using plenty of toothpaste. He got dressed quickly, shrugging into some pants and a shirt that had obviously come from his stuff. The clothes stuck to his skin a little from the water that hadn't completely dried, and he left the room, feeling very hungry now that he was thinking about it.

On the way, he popped into his and Deidara's room to get rid of the pants he'd been wearing and to find a few weapons (he was feeling a little nervous without a kunai in near reach). He opened the door and turned on the light, dumping his pants in a heap near a bag of his stuff. He was leaving the room when he stopped and looked around. The room looked the same as always, but it smelled like new paint. He touched a wall lightly- the paint was still a little sticky, but it was mostly dry by now. Sasori shrugged; he'd ask Deidara about it later.

Speaking of Deidara…

Sasori went back to the kitchen, determined to find the blonde, whom he hadn't seen since late last night. Opening the door, he saw said blonde talking to Sakura next to the counter. Deidara turned to look at who had opened the door and stopped.

Time seemed to freeze as the two were frozen, fixated on each other. Sakura turned away with a barely concealed smile, and started getting things out of the cupboards as Sasori walked over to the blonde and the two embraced, Sasori resting his head on the artist's shoulder, Deidara threading a hand through the puppeteer's hair. The redhead breathed deeply, feeling doubt that had been building up inside slowly drain away when he felt the other as a tangible being. They stood that way for a few moments, until Sakura dropping a pan on the stove caused them to break apart. Deidara leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the redhead's lips before pulling him over to a smaller table, obviously carried in from somewhere else, and made him sit down.

"We're feeding you," the blonde explained when Sasori began to protest.

"I can cook for myself!" he argued, although he didn't make much of a move to doing so. Whatever Sakura was cooking smelled very good to him right then, and he realized that he was ravenous. When she put a bowl of some kind of curry in front of him, he dug in and had cleaned it out in minutes, even though curry wasn't one of his favorite foods.

After he'd eaten through two more bowls of the curry and drunk a lot of water (it was very spicy curry) (1), Sakura and Deidara had stopped pushing him to eat more. He sat back feeling a bit fat.

Sakura left after a bit, and Itachi came to drag Sasori off for debriefing on what had happened over the past few days. Deidara had wanted to come along, but Itachi had very firmly told him that he couldn't. When this had sparked a very defiant protest, Sasori had been mildly surprised, but had decided that the blonde had gotten more of an attitude over the events in the past few days and was rather pleased at the change.

He was now following Itachi into a lesser-used room, which was more of a cramped closet than a room. It was usually used for storing bedding, but was now being used as a private conference room by Itachi. They sat across from each other on small spindly chairs that made crunching noises when any weight was rested on them. Itachi started bluntly.

"During the raid, Zabuza and Haku set off the enemy's alarm, which is probably why you were caught relatively unaware. You were right outside the leaders' tent, correct?"

"Hai," Sasori confirmed.

"We retreated. Zabuza and Haku were recovered by Yuri and Takikko. Deidara managed to escape as well, although he lost his eye as you may have noticed. He is currently out of the rotation of the guard," Itachi added, almost as an afterthought. "As you are, for the moment."

He continued. "Sakura worked on Zabuza and brought him up to normal readings. Takikko and Yuri had minor injuries. Deidara stayed in your room and locked us out for a while after he and the rest were told about your death, as presented by Oto."

"Then why did he go into the camp, if he didn't know I was alive?" Sasori interrupted.

Itachi frowned at the question. "He didn't know you were alive. I would presume for revenge, except he didn't say that it was revenge when he returned."

"What did he say?"

"It would be better if you asked him," Itachi said, after a brief moment of contemplation. He dismissed the topic brusquely. "What happened while you were held prisoner?"

Sasori's hands twitched, as if remembering their destruction.

"Mostly torture."

"Mostly?"

"I went through some unconsciousness and drugged stupor besides that," the puppeteer said tersely. "Kept me sedated with my own stuff until they called in Deidara's father."

Itachi was startled by that. "What? He was there?"

"Yeah." Sasori let there be a moment of silence before continuing. "He was very… twisted. Their torturer, apparently."

Itachi watched him for a moment, and stood up abruptly. His chair crunched. "Go spend some time with Deidara," he said, opening the door for Sasori. "Relax a bit. Work back into shape. Oto's called in reinforcements since yesterday, and they're up to about three hundred now."

"What?" Sasori said, startled.

"I'll call a meeting in two hours," Itachi said. "We can talk about it then." He walked out of the tiny room, Sasori following silently.

He went back to the kitchen, only to find that Deidara was no longer there. Naruto noticed Sasori coming back out and, guessing who the redhead was looking for, told him that the artist had gone to his and Sasori's room. "Probably to clean up," Naruto added. He noticed Sasori's blank look, and didn't say anything more than that Deidara had "completely freaked" when he'd been presumed dead.

The puppeteer opened the door quietly, noting that his blonde was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, hands behind his head. He looked up eagerly when Sasori entered, finger to his lips to keep the artist quiet. The redhead closed the door and drew a symbol on it in pure chakra. It glowed like the silencing ward in Itachi and Kisame's room, before fading into invisibility.

With that done, Sasori turned around to face Deidara again, who had gotten up and was now holding him in a vise-like hug. The redhead bore it for a few moments, but eventually pushed the blonde off so that he could breath. He got a few seconds before the artist pulled him into a hot kiss that left him unable to do anything more that hold onto the blonde tightly.

They kissed for almost ten minutes straight, with a sort of desperate intensity that Sasori had never experienced before, not that he was surprised. But it was startling in its newness, and he wasn't quite sure that he liked it.

Finally, they pulled apart and rested, still holding each other, foreheads together. Their breathing fell in sync, and calmness descended over them. Sasori didn't know how long they stood that way. It seemed to be as long as forever and as short as a second. And then they moved again; Deidara pulled out of the embrace and tugged him over to the bed, and they lay facing one another, merely inches apart.

"I… went sort of crazy. When I thought you'd died."

Sasori kissed him on the forehead, seeing that talking about this was hard for the blonde. The redhead pulled the artist in closer, if possible.

Deidara shivered. "I went emo."

Silence. "What does 'emo' mean?" Sasori asked, sounding puzzled.

The blonde nearly laughed. "It's slang in the U.S. It's a particular style in social life. Most of the emos are depressed or depressed because they're gay."

The puppeteer thought about it. "You were depressed?" he said at last.

"Yeah… pretty much."

"Did anything else happen?"

"I did a lot of thinking."

The silence stretched out, but it was comfortable. Deidara closed the remaining distance between them and curled up tightly in the redhead's embrace.

"I didn't know what to do," the blonde said so softly Sasori had to strain to hear it. "You were gone, and it was like-" He faltered, and fell silent again.

"Like there wasn't anything else left," Deidara said finally after a long time.

"Does this have something to do with why you repainted the walls in here?" Sasori said.

"Maybe," said the artist evasively.

The puppeteer kissed the blonde slowly. "I won't ask," he breathed, "if you don't want to tell."

They didn't have sex; instead, they lay there for a while, just kissing and being in each other's company. This lasted until a few minutes before the two-hour mark Itachi had told Sasori about, when they got up together and left to go hear what the news was.

* * *

A/n- Another chapter. I'm SO SORRY this hasn't come sooner, so I made it longer. Being banned from the computer has no goodness for me. I hate it. Thankfully, there is an end to the torment in sight! I managed to smash out a compromise between my dad and I, so I now, hopefully, will be able to get on more. 

Just so you know, this chapter took many sleepless nights and piecemeal weekends. Although I got to see my muse, Andy-chan again recently! Since I haven't seen her since my birthday in March, it was a very good time for both of us :) Very violent, too… especially with the amount of soda and pizza we consumed.

(1)- It is the Curry of Life! From that one filler episode, come back to haunt us all. –soothes random Naruto fan- The filler is now over, yes it is… There there.

Answer to the question last week! The people who liked their schools liked them because they were all-around fun to go to. There were some people who didn't like their schools because of bad neighborhoods or bad students attending the schools. :( That's sad…

This week's question is: What are your favorite mangas/animes? Please tell me why, too :)

Here are a few links to check out:

Drama! Angst! And Nail Polish! http: (doubleslash) www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net (slash) s (slash) 3032393 (slash) 1 (Take out spaces)

This is a hilarious story. I sincerely urge you to read it! It's a spoof off of all those high school SasuNaru stories out there- well, sort of. It focuses on the Akatsuki members, though :)

Totally hot picture of Deidara with Mello (from Death Note)- http: (doubleslash) aibunny (dot) deviantart (dot) com (slash) art (slash) Bang-Boys-61614832

I like the totally hot picture. It's on my desktop. -predatory grin-


	12. Picking Up

**Warning:** SasoxDei, so shounen ai. Probable small errors in writing. And plot development :)

**Disclaimer: **Plot idea ALL MINE, but nothing else. Sorry.

**OMG! HI! I'm back!**

* * *

12. Picking Up

Tsunade, team leader for the Hidden Village of Konoha as well as Hokage, sighed. She'd just pulled up the attendance records of all the members of Akatsuki and seen a disturbing pattern. All hadn't attended school for the past week, along with large numbers of other ninja in training from other villages. She knew exactly what was going on, but that didn't mean she wanted it to happen. She scowled, and pulled out her cell phone. Hitting the speed dial, she leaned back into her comfy, well-padded, and plush chair.

"Hello?" someone said at the other end.

"Jiraiya," she said dryly, "I have not so good news and worse news."

"Can I choose which I hear first?"

"Quiet. No. The not so good news is that whatever's been happening started about a week ago."

"That means it's been going on for a while," the teacher commented.

"Yes." She toyed with the sash at her waist, reluctant to continue.

"Well?" Jiraiya prodded.

"About three hundred disappeared a few days later," she said slowly.

"You're joking," her compatriot said flatly. "That many?"

"Two hundred more just dropped off the attendance records yesterday."

There was silence at the other end. "He's been increasing his numbers," the sannin remarked eventually.

"I concur wholeheartedly."

"So far that's five hundred. He wouldn't waste time and effort, so that must mean A's putting up a good fight."

"If they started with three hundred, that means that the minimum killed in order for another hundred- or two, in this case- would be at least one-fifty. If that's Uchiha leading them, then he's doing a wonderful job," Tsunade calculated, adding the last remark with a hint of respect.

"Have you been able to track down Rei yet?"

"Iie. He's disappeared completely, but I bet he's biding his time somewhere."

"Ah." Jiraiya paused. "Are you thinking about lending a hand?"

"Rei wouldn't like it if we interfered without his consent," the Godaime reminded him.

"All the same," he protested. "Should we alert some about the situation?"

"Yeah. Tell Shadow, Scarecrow, Smoke, Caterpillar, Crazy, and Metal-head. No one else."

"Hai, hokage-sama."

Tsunade slapped the phone shut, wondering what the hell Rei was doing. Leaving Akatsuki, the group he'd created, alone to fend for themselves against _three hundred?_

* * *

At the Uchiha estate, Itachi had just finished telling the rest of Akatsuki something similar. Silence dominated the room as people looked at one another with expressions bordering desperation.

The Uchiha surveyed them. Hidan was muttering darkly under his breath with Kakuzu staring stonily at the floor in on corner; Yuri frowning in concentration near Takikko, who looked haunted; Naruto, glaring at the wall, eyes bleeding red; Haku and Zabuza looking unafraid. On the other side of the room, Sasori and Deidara stood quietly, both sharing a grim look before stepping closer together. Sakura stood next to Zetsu, both of whom had looks of calm determination. Tobi looked slightly nervous, and was murmuring something urgently in the spy's ear. Next to Itachi, Kisame shifted uneasily and grasped the handle of Sameheda. The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut.

"We need help," Haku said finally.

"How?" Takikko snapped.

"We've gotten out before," Zetsu said. "One of us can definitely leave and find others."

"Who, then?" the girl pressed. "Who would leave, and who would they go to? We haven't even talked to Rei-sama since this thing began, and he hasn't tried to find us. Who else can we trust?"

"Konoha," Sakura said.

"Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro would," offered Naruto.

"We could probably get some of the teachers to help too," added Zetsu.

Itachi was silent, thinking while the others discussed possibilities.

"We'll have to get reinforcements at some point," he said at last, stopping the talk immediately. "I think—"

_Ring. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing._

Everyone swiveled to look at the phone.

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing._

Itachi walked over and picked up the receiver. "Yes?" he asked coolly.

"I'm getting you more help," said Rei-sama. He hung up.

Itachi stared at the phone, then put it back. "It was Rei-sama," he said to the others. "He said he's getting more help."

"It's a trap," Naruto, Kakuzu, and Hidan all said unanimously.

"Maybe not," Zetsu interjected quietly. "But the line might have been bugged."

"Which was probably why he kept it short," Itachi said dryly.

"If it wasn't Rei-sama, then we're in trouble," Takikko said firmly. "We still need to get a message out. If it is Rei-sama, it'll be superfluous; but it is a precaution, and one that we need."

"I agree," Yuri said grimly.

"We'll only be able to hide behind the barrier for another few days," Kisame pointed out. "This is going to end soon, one way or another."

"We will send a messenger to the Godaime," Itachi said decisively. "She will know what to do. And Konoha has been mostly on our side throughout this conflict, so I expect that we can find many allies there."

The silence that followed the pronouncement was interrupted by no one. Then:

"We should send the fastest" from Takikko.

"And their partner," Sakura added.

"We'll need you, Sakura, so that puts you and Naruto out," Kisame said.

"Neither Kisame nor Itachi," Sasori said after some thought. "They are needed here."

"I will stay," Zetsu said firmly. Tobi looked a bit crestfallen.

"Zabuza and I shall remain as well," Haku said quietly. "Zabuza still needs to recover, a little."

"It has to be Deidara." Kakuzu spoke up for the first time. "He can fly on those clay birds of his if he needs to. He's also quick, and hard to catch."

"Sasori isn't entirely recovered, though!" Deidara objected immediately.

"I can fit in Hiruko," Sasori said quietly.

"No!" snapped Deidara. "It's too dangerous, and _you are not healed yet._"

"We won't be kicking you out of the barrier and saying 'Have a good time!'" Itachi said a little waspishly. "We are going to plan this thoroughly before we do it."

Deidara looked at the ring of members, entirely unconvinced. He began to speak, but Sasori clapped a hand over his mouth and spoke softly in his ear. "No more. We're going because they need us and we can do it the fastest. I'll be fine, especially with you being all up and ready to drag me out of trouble." Deidara began to relent, hesitantly. Feeling him respond, Sasori continued. "I'll go in Hiruko, which is practically armor in itself. I'll be fine."

Deidara sighed, and gave in. "Alright," he said grimly to Itachi. "We'll do it."

"Excellent," Itachi said. "Come with me, then…"

* * *

It was late afternoon, now. The sun was beginning to set in the west, its light now golden over the Uchiha estate. Sasori and Deidara were cloaked in invisibility jutsus, as well as henges underneath and the standard chakra-concealing seals. They were exiting from the roof. They were to climb (or drop) to the ground, and make their way out of the barrier from the south-west. Meanwhile, Naruto, Kisame, and a few others were going to create distractions.

A bang echoed across the silent grounds, startling the sleepy feel of the place. A bright explosion of blue and gold showered over the front entrance, followed immediately by several more of red, green, and purple fires. A blue-smoked bang followed the quickly, and blanketed the ground with dense smoke.

Exploding tags that had been secretly placed by Zetsu went off around the perimeter of the barrier and in a few makeshift camps. Cries were heard as unlucky Oto nin were caught in the blasts. Moments later, more explosions were heard; Deidara had supplied Naruto and Itachi with great numbers of his little scorpions, which the two were now detonating faithfully after having sent them out hours earlier.

The patch of woods ahead of them rang with cries of surprise and pain; Sasori tapped on Deidara's shoulder, and the two quickly scaled down the side of the house and ghosted across the lawn. They were through the barrier in moments, and it was then that their true test began.

Neither could see each other, and yet both had to stay in the same area. Having to constantly dodge enemy ninja was a trying process when you didn't know if the place you leaped to contained your partner. It took them ten minutes to make their way free of the grounds.

Ducking into an alley, Deidara looked furtively around before removing the invisibility jutsu. Underneath he was wearing the henge of a slightly stooped, school-looking brunette teen. Sasori appeared moments later, and though he was in Hiruko, he, too, wore a henge that made him appear human. His was that of another student, shorter, and with plain black hair. The henge pushed rectangular spectacles further onto his nose with one hand as it appraised the brunette.

"Ready?" Deidara queried softly, glancing towards the busy street. Sasori nodded, and the two walked out of the alley together. They did not look about, and instead used their senses as they chattered about their "girlfriends" and "schoolwork."

"The upcoming exams are going to be a bitch," sighed Sasori resignedly as they passed some industrial-looking buildings.

"I know! My mom'll ground me if I flunk," complained Deidara, and made for the nearest subway station.

They took the trains to a station a mile or so from the school's southern entrance. Konoha village was in the southern quarter, and the Hokage's office was in the center of the village.

It was here that the second difficult task awaited them: they had to sneak onto school grounds without being seen, if at all possible. The invisibility jutsus were thrown on again, and the two proceeded to walk in through the front door. Quite literally, actually; they waited until a few students kept for late detention had to leave, and swept in before the door closed.

They were in a long hall. Doors lining the walls opened into classrooms on both sides. The hall took a sharp turn to the right; Sasori and Deidara stole along it silently, wary for booby traps and security devices.

At the end of the large hallway there was another door, which led outside. Neither wanted to risk alerting late students outside, so they went back a ways and entered a bathroom, where the proceeded to jump out the windows. Now they were on the training grounds, half of which was forest. In the middle, however, was a tall tower that contained the offices of the Hokage and a few of the more important instructors.

The Hokage's office was at the very top of the tower, and the window was lit. A well-built woman with dyed-blonde hair stood in front of it for a moment, looking out; her mouth was moving. She turned away and went out from view.

After another tap from Sasori, Deidara began to move forward.

* * *

The Godaime looked at those assembled in front of her: Shikamaru, the tactical shadow genius and only student there; Kakashi, one of the more capable instructors; Asuma, Shikamaru's instructor and the son of the previous Hokage; Gai, taijutsu master and ebullient teacher; Ako, former pupil and worshipper of Orochimaru; and lastly, Ibiki, torture and manipulation specialist.

"Here is the current data we have," she said coolly, waving to the stack of papers on her desk. The others each took one and looked it over. "As you can see, the current statistics of those involved are far less than those estimated to be currently working in Oto. Akatsuki is greatly outnumbered by the renegades, and I'm afraid that we'll have to step in—sooner, rather than later." She looked out of the window to the silent training grounds below, and waited for them to tell her why she could or could not do something.

Kakashi raised a hand. "Is there any particular reason why we're going to get involved?" he queried lazily. "It is only a few students we're talking about, after all." Despite his rather uncaring statement, his eyes watched her sharply.

"If you'd bothered to look, Kakashi," Asuma interrupted, "you'd notice that a quarter of those 'few students' are Konoha nin."

"Don't forget the operation is being directed by Orochimaru," Anko hissed, eyes glittering. "Even if he is not associated to it by any material evidence, we all know he's the primary mover in this scheme. He's probably planning something dreadful after he's through with Akatsuki."

"Doubtless this has something to do with his falling out with the group," Shikamaru said dryly.

"We can't do anything," Ibiki said firmly. "To go against Oto would wreak political chaos. Students from practically every village are involved."

"We will do something," Tsunade informed them, turning away from the window. "I want you to tell me what."

"Volunteers?" Kakashi suggested. "We could ask for volunteers to go help."

"Absolutely not," Shikamaru contradicted him instantly. "Even if Konoha has the smallest defection count, there are undoubtedly Oto sympathizers. It should be hand-picked. Any lack should be taken from Akatsuki supporters in other villages."

Anko snorted. "And who would that be?" she demanded. "Much of the major villages are almost entirely pro-Oto."

"Gaara of Suna, for one," the genius defended. "Temari, too. I wouldn't be surprised if their brother Kankuro wouldn't object, either."

"We should stay within Konoha's population, first," Asuma cautioned. "Anything outside will spread like wildfire."

"Where's Rei in all of this?" demanded Ibiki of Tsunade.

"I have no idea," she said calmly. "He's dropped off the face of the earth as far as our intelligence goes, and I doubt there's been any contact to the group."

"Then we should—"

A knock on the door interrupted Ibiki's next words. The group was immediately alerted, and most tensed while reaching for their weapons.

"Yes?" Tsunade said.

The door opened, and two teenagers stepped into the room. One was moderately built, with brown hair and ruffled clothing. The other was shorter, with shaggy black hair and rectangular glasses. They both reeked of ninja.

Tsunade gave them a look up and down. "Who are you?"

The images of the teens flickered and disappeared, leaving a short blonde and some kind of contraption. The Konoha nin all had weapons in their hands and were in fighting poses, but the blonde put up his hands, and the Konoha nin realized that both of the intruders were wearing red-and-black cloaks.

"Peace," rasped the blonde, eyeing them warily. "We're just here to talk to the Hokage."

"I am here." Tsunade's eyes narrowed fractionally. "Please identify yourselves and your reasons for breaking into Konoha ground."

"I am Taiga Deidara, and this is Akasuna Sasori," the blonde said. The thing next to it shifted.

"_That's _Akasuna?" Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "What is he, a robot?"

Deidara gritted his teeth and opened his mouth, about to retort viciously until Hiruko began moving again and a large hatch opened on the back. The puppet lost animation as Sasori gingerly climbed out. On flat ground, he stopped and gave a wavering bow. He handed a scroll to the Godaime, who slit it open and began to read Itachi's elegant kanji. When she had finished, she looked up at the two Akatsuki members, seizing them up.

They both looked ragged. The blonde one, Deidara, had a bandage wrapped around his head and over one eye; he held an arm gingerly, suggesting a recent wound. His gaze was steely and hardened. The red-head seemed to have some trouble with standing, and flexed his hands every so often. Dark shadows hung under his eyes. Both eyed those she had assembled warily. As neither appeared to be in any position to be a danger to her, she addressed the Konoha nin.

"Start making lists of possible volunteers," she said. "Now scat." She beckoned to Deidara and Sasori. "Tell me your exact circumstances," she said as the others assembled began to leave.

"No dead," Sasori said shortly as the last member of the previous assembly disappeared and the door closed. "Some injured. We have a barrier up, but it'll only last a few more days."

"We're not low on supplies by any means," Deidara added. "But most are low on reserves of chakra."

"If the rest can't get out, we're dead, and none of them will leave voluntarily—Itachi isn't going to move, and neither will Kisame. Everyone else is staying because leaving would leave them with no honor," Sasori explained.

"And what about you two?" the Hokage asked. "You two look like you can barely stand on your own feet."

The blonde and redhead grimaced. "We're the fastest," Deidara said. "And the most injured, I suppose." He gave a dry smile.

"Well," Tsunade said, "I can't do anything until tomorrow morning. Since it would be too dangerous to take you home with me, I suggest you stay here tonight; there's a couch over there and the office is nigh impregnable when the security is in place."

The two looked at each other.

"Tomorrow morning I'll be able to send you back with at least a small force of Konoha nin," the medic continued, getting up. "I've been intending on stepping in since a few days ago—Jiraiya and I are old school friends of Orochimaru, and we know what he's like," she added at her driest.

"Well," the redhead said, relenting, "that sounds reasonable." The blonde opened his mouth, but Sasori stopped him from saying anything. He bowed again. "Thank you for your help, Hokage-sama." After a moment, Deidara bowed as well.

"No problem," she said, getting up. "Come here. I want to see what Sakura's done to heal you before I go."

After checking their physical state, she got ready to leave. She gave them some last instructions. "Eat something—there's food in the refrigerator under the desk there. I expect you to be ready to go by tomorrow."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the two chorused as she left.

* * *

A/n- Ah, yes. School. What a lovely word. And so now I hide behind it as the reason why I haven't done anything in the past… uh… well, it's pushing seven months. How about that?

I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON.

However, I think that updates are going to pick up now that my sophomore year's coming to an end :)


End file.
